Guardians
by Wintermoth
Summary: In the year 2015, Marinette Dupain-Cheng said yes to Tikki, the kwami of Creation. Two days later, Adrien Agreste said yes to Plagg, the kwami of Destruction. For the first time in over a thousand years, the cat and the bug were starting fresh. (immortal AU)
1. Un

**Welcome to a new AU that I've been working on for several months now.**

 **Dedicated to KryallaOrchid, Panda013, adjit, and Rionydal since they've let me talk about this for months and helped me develop it (whether they realized it or not).**

 **For anyone who has read my stuff before, you'll notice that this is a different style than what I normally write in. This will be a combinations of segments of varying length that act as snippets of life, sometimes forming larger arcs. This is a story about their lives. Buckle up kids, this is gonna be one hell of a ride.**

* * *

Whenever a new Miraculous wielder was chosen, there were certain things the kwami would tell them before they even were allowed to put it on.

 _You were chosen because you were worthy._

 _So long as you wield this power, you will bear the weight of millions of lives on your shoulders. Where evil rears its head, you will be there to stand in its way._

 _This will not be easy. You will be fighting for your life. You will get hurt. You may die._

 _This is for life._

 _This is the biggest responsibility in the world but by taking it on, you will experience things most people cannot even imagine._

Sometimes, rarely, but sometimes…they will say no. They were the cautious ones, the ones who could not bear a responsibility greater than the one they already bore, the ones who were afraid. One might argue that they were the smart ones. Whatever the reason, the kwami would accept it, wipe their memory, and seek out another.

Most often, though, they say yes.

Because when you're a teenager, crawling out of childhood and rushing towards adulthood, with the world calling to you, and you are being offered freedom and power unlike any you've ever known, you don't say _no._

* * *

In the year 2015, Marinette Dupain-Cheng said yes to Tikki, the kwami of Creation.

Two days later, Adrien Agreste said yes to Plagg, the kwami of Destruction.

For the first time in over a thousand years, the cat and the bug were starting fresh.

* * *

As the fledgling Guardians took their first steps in their new lives, there were certain things the kwami would tell them in preparation.

 _Your first and foremost responsibility is to your Miraculous. It contains enormous power, more than you can imagine—and I promise to teach you over time—but it must never be exploited, even by you._

 _There will always be people who will seek to take your power. You cannot let them have it._

 _There is evil in the world and it as real as you are. It is your job to fight it when it appears._

 _You will find that your powers come naturally to you but there is so much for you to learn._

 _Your secret identity is now your most valuable possession. You can never tell anyone._

 _But you are not alone. You have a partner out there waiting for you. You'll meet soon, don't worry._

More often than not, the fledglings are inducted in the midst of a conflict, forced to learn on the fly with a partner older and more experienced than them. Sometimes, less commonly, the kwami waits until the conflict has ended and then they seek out a budding evil in the world which needs attention. The survivor follows and awaits their new partner, chosen from somewhere in the vicinity of the looming threat, and both are waiting when the evil finally rears its head.

It's easier this way. The fledglings learn early on the importance of their duty and they're so preoccupied that they don't think to ask the important questions until way down the line when things are calm and they've had a chance to process.

Which is why kwami very rarely will choose a host from a location at peace.

* * *

Paris was at peace.

Ladybug and Chat Noir met as equals, two children gifted with extraordinary abilities, thirsting for adventure, reveling in the freedom. Trust did not come immediately but once it sprouted, it grew quickly, strengthening as it went. Over time, it would bind them to each other in a way no one else could understand, except perhaps for other Guardians.

Yet as much as they enjoyed each other's company, neither Adrien nor Marinette could understand why their respective kwami had chosen them to fight evil when there wasn't any.

And then there was.

* * *

There were certain things kwami told their hosts up front. They always made sure to spell out the duties and responsibilities, as well as introduce the benefits provided by the magic.

However, there were a great many things that they did not say and it was in this list that the most important details lay. They never outright lied to the Guardians but they never gave them the full truth, either. It wasn't done out of maliciousness or any cruel intentions, rather from eons of experience. There would be bitterness down the road, there would be anger, but there would also be eventual acceptance. If they told them everything from the beginning, they would never have hosts. It was better to simply ease them into things and wait for that acceptance to come. It always did in the end.

* * *

His name was Papillon. He wanted their Miraculous and he had no qualms about exploiting the people of Paris to get them.

* * *

The heroes hadn't been idle since their meeting. They had thwarted petty crimes but mostly kept to the shadows as they learned themselves and each other. When the first akuma arose, they knew what they had to do and though they charged in, guns blazing, neither felt ready for the task they faced. Neither Chat Noir nor Ladybug believed themselves to be particularly powerful and wondered how they would be able to protect their Miraculous and the people of the Paris from a madman and his villains.

But what choice did they have? As Guardians, it was their duty to defend their Miraculous and defeat evil and that meant throwing themselves into the fray, no matter the risk. If not, their Miraculous, along with their powers and their kwami would be taken from them. Then, their lives. After all, as long as a Guardian lived, their Miraculous would work for no other. If he truly wanted their powers, then the only way to get them was to kill their hosts.

* * *

When Marinette was fourteen years old, she met Adrien Agreste at school and was immediately ready to maim him. He was a friend of _Chloe Bourgeois,_ of all people, and he had tried to stick chewing gum to her seat. The re-emergence of Stone Heart suitably distracted her from the new pest as she went to go clean up the mess that not purifying the akuma had caused. (Tikki had warned her what would happen. It was her own darn fault for not trying harder to capture it.)

It wasn't until the next day that she learned it had all been a misunderstanding and that he had honestly been trying to help her. In the span of thirty seconds, poor Marinette fell and fell hard.

She soon realized that not only was Adrien handsome, but polite, kind, smart, and, in her opinion, all around perfect. He was rich, too, and the son of world-famous designer Gabriel Agreste, but neither of those things mattered to her, not really. In her eyes he could do no wrong and her ears would tolerate not an ill word about him.

What she could not understand was why she felt drawn to him, almost like she'd known him her whole life. She decided it was a sign they were meant to be.

Had she been able to consider her feelings objectively, she would have discovered that it was the same attraction she felt towards her partner.

Had she been able to ask Adrien such things, she would have learned that he, too, felt drawn inexplicably to her. That he had chalked it up to her personality and the warm, friendly air around her that drew everyone else in, barring two notable exceptions.

Had she known who he was, she would have realized that it was a combination of the deep trust formed between them as well as the magics flowing through their bodies. Magics as old as time itself, inextricably linked to each other, drawing the hosts together as they were meant to be.

* * *

When Adrien was fourteen years old, he fell in love with the most wonderful girl in the world. She was kind, she was brave. She cared about others, about him, about Paris and fought tooth and nail to keep all of the above safe. She was intelligent, she could think on her feet, use her bizarre Lucky Charms to their advantage in ways he wouldn't have been able to work out in twice the time she did.

She made him laugh and he liked to make her laugh…about as much as he liked to get a reaction out of her with his puns. Honestly, those reactions were a big reason that he made one every chance he got. She made him feel like a person, someone whose wants and needs mattered, whose opinion counted for anything. She made his freedom worthwhile. Most importantly, she made him happy like no one else ever had and even before he knew he loved her, he knew he wanted to be around her for the rest of his life.

"Well, you might very well be," Plagg told him once whilst idly selecting which piece of cheese to devour next. "I told you before you even put the ring on that this was for life. The same terms apply to her as well. Unless she dies first, she will be your partner for your entire life."

"And if she…" he trailed off, unable to say it, never mind even _consider_ it. The loss of his mother was still too raw to even contemplate losing someone else he loved.

Plagg turned away from the cheese and gave his charge a long look. "Then her kwami will choose another and they will become your partner. That's how it is, kid."

"So then…why were we chosen at the same time? She was new when I was."

"Yes," he agreed. "Why do you think that is?"

Adrien had known without being told that he and his Ladybug were not the first Guardians of their Miraculous. Logically, there had to have been others throughout history. He had no idea how many, he had no idea how long the Miraculous had existed, and Plagg wasn't inclined to tell him. If he had to guess, he'd say there had been hundreds before him.

He had also known without being told that his predecessors were all dead. Logically, if the Miraculous could only bond with one person at a time then its previous wielder had to have perished before he inherited it. He hadn't really thought about it, though. Not until that moment. Then the fate of their predecessors was suddenly crystal clear.

There was only one way two people in their position could die at the same time…especially when pursued by someone like Papillon.

* * *

 **Starting off a bit slow but I feel like there was plenty of information in here to digest. Many events will progress as they did in canon with the exception of those that no longer are possible due to the different fundamentals of this world, all of which will be revealed over time.**

 **This is gonna be fun. For me.**


	2. Deux

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"There's no way you're five thousand years old," Chat Noir said.

Ladybug quirked her lips as her own surprise at the Pharaoh's words faded in the face of her partner's. "Maybe I am."

"Do you really expect me to believe a five-thousand-year-old goddess would just fall out of the sky like you did?"

"Okay, point taken." She rolled her eyes. "But I guess we really do have a lot to learn from the past."

The Ladyblog's broadcast cut out again and with a frown, Ladybug closed the compact.

"Five thousand years…" Chat Noir murmured. "Do you think she was the first? No," he said before she could even respond. "No way. Relatively, that's not even that long ago. Humans have been around for way longer. She couldn't have been."

She cocked her head to the side curiously. His expression was tight, brow furrowed, and his overall demeanor more serious than she had ever seen. "What are you thinking, kitty?"

Chat Noir glanced at her. "Do you ever wonder just how many of us have there been?"

It was right about then that the Pharaoh decided to open a portal to another dimension, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

"We both know that wasn't me in Egypt five thousand years ago. So…who was she?"

Tikki smiled fondly and her eyes grew distant. The name she uttered made no sense to Marinette but she thought she felt her ears tingle in response. The sensation was gone in an instant however and her eyes returned to the picture in her textbook.

"As a Guardian, her name was Red Scarab. She loved flowers and beauty. She was believed to be a goddess, as was Cat of the Shadows. He was more revered by the people than she was but people thought having her alight on their roof was a sign of good fortune."

A pleasant sensation flowed through Marinette's body like warm water. Her breathing hitched and she placed her hand over her fluttering heart. Somewhere, deep in her mind or far in the distance, she heard a young woman's laughter.

Tikki smiled ever so slightly. "Every Guardian bonds intimately with their Miraculous. They leave impressions of themselves that remain even after they have long since gone," she explained. "You can feel her, can't you?"

"I—is that what this is?" Marinette whispered.

The kwami nodded and floated up to touch the earring in Marinette's right ear. "Their lives may be over but, in a way, their souls still live on. In here. Through you." She drifted back. "All your Ladybug instincts come from them. They guide you, even without you realizing. One day, you will do the same for your successors."

Marinette swallowed thickly and looked down at the drawing of Red Scarab in her book again. The ancient girl's presence was fading and she exhaled softly. She'd never felt anything like that in her life. For those few seconds, it really had been like Red Scarab was… _alive_ within her.

Her eyes flicked down to the character that was distinctly kwami-like in another picture. "Is this you, Tikki?

Tikki glanced at it and smiled. "What do you think?"

"It is, isn't it? How else would you know her?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Wait…. You're five thousand years old? You don't look it." Not that she had any references on which to judge a kwami's age, as such.

Tikki giggled. "Thank you. But actually, I'm far older than that. I came into existence with this Miracle stone, I was the one who forged it into earrings, and I will be with it until its destruction."

Marinette was sure her jaw couldn't get any lower. That was a lot to swallow at once. She decided to file it away to process later and instead focused on something easier. "So, I suppose you've known Ladybugs clumsier than me."

* * *

Adrien and Marinette did not know what drove Papillon. All they knew was that he wanted their power. With no idea where he was and no way to stop him, there was nothing they could do but watch as, one by one, people around them fell prey to his sick magic. Corrupted by their desires and sorrows, turned into weapons to wreak havoc and unleash despair. Even without the protectiveness they felt for the city and its people, it was their duty to fight the akuma to protect their Miraculous. And fight them they did. One by one, akuma after akuma, each fight slowly chipping away at their innocence.

* * *

A Guardian's duty was simple enough: defeat evil where it arose. How they chose to go about it depended on the Guardians involved and the circumstances. So long as they got the job done, most were of the opinion that the ends justified the means. However, while fulfilling their duty, there was a code with which they had to abide.

 _One: protect your Miraculous at all costs._

 _Two: protect your kwami at all costs._

 _Three: protect your partner at all costs._

Or, 'Miraculous, kwami, partner' for short. It was a good mantra, one that most took to heart. Life was simpler for a Guardian once they had their priorities straight. Long ago, Guardians had come together and agreed (with kwami approval) that Three were the top priority. Oh, they certainly were supposed to use their powers to combat the evil to which they had been assigned, but even that could be put on the backburner to ensure the safety of one of the Three.

Now, one might think it odd that 'identity' was not on that list but it had been argued that protecting their identities was a part of all the above. To protect your Miraculous and kwami, you had to protect your identity. To protect your partner, you had to protect their identity. Plus, in the grand scheme, what was one's 'identity' anyway?

Was it their face? Many people shared similar features; some were identical or nearly so. Throughout history kwami had seen the same faces crop up, genetics combining and recombining over and over in an endless loop of possibilities. There were several times when a kwami had seen the face of one of their previous hosts (or, worse yet, a Guardian who had seen a face similar to that of a deceased partner) yet, when examined, were incapable of being a host themselves.

Was it their name? Names changed. In the past, one's given name could be changed several times throughout the course of their life. Guardians flitted through names like clothes as it suited them. Very few died bearing the name they were given at birth.

A Guardian could continue to perform their duty if their identity was exposed. Loss or substantial damage to any one of the Three was a different matter altogether.

Lose your Miraculous and you would lose the magic and your abilities as a Guardian. Lose your kwami and their counterpart would be alone and incomplete for the rest of their life. Lose your partner and you lose the only person you had in this world. (And, of course, you would have to go through the process of acquiring and breaking in a new partner, all the while still combating the same evil that had killed your partner…it was a mess.)

So, really, once a Guardian learned to prioritize, things became very simple. Miraculous. Kwami. Partner. Everything else—friends, family, homes, livelihood, even birthrights—was inconsequential.

* * *

Chat Noir took the last one of the Three to heart, perhaps more than he should have considering he had his own kwami and miraculous to protect first and foremost. Plagg scolded him time and time again for his blatant disregard for his own safety. Not yet having a true grasp on the responsibility he bore, Adrien dismissed his kwami's concerns. Ladybug was the only one who could purify akuma and restore order so what did it matter if he was hurt in the process so long as she was safe at the end to make things right?

So he took hits for her. He leaped between her and their enemy, shielded her with his body. He kept her safe even at the cost of himself. At first, it was out of duty. Then it was out of love. Eventually, it was instinct.

Ladybug was the kind of Guardian who did not take to the code as quickly. In the beginning, she valued her identity far too much. Though her life before becoming a Guardian sometimes felt like it had happened to someone else, she remembered who she had once been. Being a hero of Paris had changed her for the better but she couldn't help but feel inadequate. She knew Chat revered her, though she was still unsure the depth of his feelings, and she feared that he would be disappointed. Or, rather, that she would somehow disappoint him. She certainly didn't feel worthy of his devotion.

There were times when she could have revealed herself to him, times when it may have helped their cause if he knew. Tikki never encouraged her to tell him but she never discouraged her from telling him, either. Sometimes Marinette got the feeling that Tikki was just waiting for the inevitable to happen on its own. After all, according to the kwami, the only partners that hadn't known each other's identities were the ones who didn't live long enough to learn. The world was fraught with danger but even more so even in the past. Sometimes things happened. It couldn't be helped.


	3. Trois

There were times when Marinette wanted, more than anything, to tell someone the truth. Someone _not_ Chat Noir. Her parents or Alya were the safest potential candidates because she knew she could trust them to keep the secret. Having her parents know would give her plenty of support and hopefully, eventually, make coming and going for battles and patrols easier. As much as it would pain Alya at firs, Marinette knew she would never reveal her identity to the world. If anything, her best friend might make a great ally.

Tikki, however, was adamantly against it.

"No, Marinette," she said each of the four times Marinette had implied that she wanted to tell someone. "You can never tell anyone. Ever. Except Chat Noir, when you're ready."

Marinette never argued back. She trusted Tikki and she knew the kwami must have a reason for being so firm on the subject.

Then Alya fell victim to Papillon. There had been a number of contributing factors and Chloe was a major catalyst. In fact, most people would place blame squarely on Chloe. Marinette did…but she also blamed herself because in the end, everything stemmed from Alya's insatiable desire to know Ladybug's identity.

* * *

"Marinette let me ask you something. What would have happened if Alya had known who you were when she was akumatized?"

"If she'd known, she wouldn't have been."

"Marinette. Think for a moment, hypothetically, if you must: what would have happened if Alya had known you were Ladybug when she was working for Papillon?"

"I…she—she would have told him, wouldn't she?"

"I have been running from Papillon long enough to know that he will exploit anything he can. Any weakness. He will use anything and everything he can find. If Alya actually _knew_ you—"

"Then we would never be safe again."

"No."

"I get it, Tikki. I really do. I just…. What about after we defeat him?"

"No. Never."

"Why?! If Hawkmoth's gone then there won't be any chance of them being akumatized—"

"Only Guardians can know the identities of other Guardians. Right now, that means only Chat Noir."

"Why?"

"It's a rule. Anyone who knows the truth is a liability. They could turn on you or one day you might be put in the position where you have to compromise yourself to protect them. _Miraculous, kwami, partner,_ Marinette."

"But I don't see why—"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then trust me when I say that you don't want to know why, okay? Please? I promise I'll tell you when you're older but until then, repeat after me: I won't tell anyone."

"…I won't tell anyone."

* * *

Even before the invention of technologies that could preserve one's image forever, a Guardian's secret identity was important. Though it may not have been one of the Three that did not mean it was neglected. Guardians had exposed themselves in the past for the sake of their partners but such an event was to be avoided at all costs. To be known was to be vulnerable.

The very first power a Guardian manifested was the power to skew perception and retention of their most recognizable features. For outsiders, they simply could not hold onto exact memories of a Guardian's appearance while not looking at them. For Guardians, the details would fade when their transformation ended. More often than not, the kwami didn't bother to explain this to them and simply told them it was an effect of the suit, which was at least part of the truth. Unfortunately, when in effect, it worked on everyone, including other Guardians.

It was not infallible. There were ways of getting through it. Eventually, inevitably, partner pairs saw through each other's magic.

As a sort of natural defense or countermeasure against the disguising effect, Guardians also had the innate ability to identify their partner on sight, on sound, or simply by being near them, at least while transformed. It was the same force that, though weaker while they were untransformed, drew Marinette to Adrien.

It was how Chat Noir knew immediately upon observing Chloe prancing around in her room in her Ladybug cosplay that she was _not_ his partner. He was woefully susceptible to the magic that obscured their identities from outside eyes but even he knew that her physical features weren't right. Even deeper, though, was a sense of absence. There was no…spark. No warmth, no innate sense of trust at the sight of her.

It was when Ladybug arrived soon after and teasingly asked if he really believed Chloe could be her that he _saw_ her. Those features he could never quite hold onto in his memories when he was Adrien suddenly solidified themselves. Black hair with a blue sheen visible in the setting sun. Slender and lithe. The exact shade of blue of her eyes. It was like breaking the surface of a pool and seeing clearly a face that had been watching you from above. How ironic that it took something showing him everything she was _not_ for him to see who she _was._

"I'd know you anywhere, my lady."

She smirked and laughed, probably thinking of the magic protecting them.

When he changed back, Adrien had a moment of panic as he scrambled to recall the details he was certain he had committed to memory. Blue eyes, dark hair with a blue tint that she wore in pigtails adorned with cute red ribbons, a big smile, a tiny nose. Her slender curves and slim fingers. The look of concern as she cradled him after he'd collapsed from the cold of the freezer. Her grin as they bumped fists. Her, her, her.

He remembered.

* * *

For Ladybug, the moment when she _saw_ came not long after Chat Noir's.

L'Imposteur did not know of the bond between Guardian pairs and Papillon was gambling that by sharing Chat Noir's powers, L'Imposteur would be able to fool the bond as well. Ladybug did indeed experience a moment of uncertainty when she approached the identical Chats. Part of her assumed that the one in control of the situation was her partner because she had faith in him and because he had told her over their communicators that he had captured the akuma. But there was something off about him and the moment she met the eyes of the one chained to the floor, everything in her _screamed_ that this was Chat.

"Nice try, but I'd know Chat Noir anywhere, _Imposteur!"_

Chat Noir beamed and L'Imposteur raged, only to be rebuked and thoroughly trounced by the heroes.

When it came to light that this rogue Chat Noir had been an imposter, the video footage of him was dismissed as inaccurate. Alya herself mourned the debunked footage, having already studied it intently in an effort to piece together his identity, an endeavor that had lead her to Adrien. Marinette dismissed her joking claims, of course, because there was no way someone like Adrien could be someone like Chat.

But Marinette remembered. She had not seen through the magic around Chat but she had been able to memorize the features on the akuma's face—features she remembered being indistinguishable from her partner's. They did not disappear from her mind after transforming back and she realized that she inadvertently _seen_ Chat Noir.

Of course, neither ever told the other of their discovery.

Chat Noir was surprised at the surge of protectiveness he felt when he saw Marinette cozied up with Le Dessinateur. Not jealousy, he knew what that felt like, thank you very much. Besides, he had no reason to be jealous of anything regarding Marinette.

She was brave. Far braver than he'd expected her to be, she was such a nervous little mouse around him at school. Tonight he'd seen a side of her he wasn't used to experiencing firsthand. He wondered what had happened to the girl who had chewed him out over the gum thing and to make her unable to look him in the eye for very long.

He wondered why he felt the need to _protect_ her. He'd never felt quite like this about anyone before. Certainly not Chloe when Lady Wifi had threatened her. Sure, he had wanted to save her—it was his duty and she was his oldest friend. This was different, deeper. Some deep instinct screamed at him to get her away from Le Dessinateur immediately, that she was vulnerable and she had to be _protected_.

It was a feeling he would not experience again for many months until Gamer loomed over her in his mechasuit. He would scoop her up in his arms and carry her as far from the akuma as he dared to go and deposit her on the safety of a rooftop he knew she could safely escape from.

He would not understand the urge then any more than he did now and it would be many, many months before he did.


	4. Quatre

**The shippy chapter**

* * *

When Marinette was 15 years old, she had her first kiss.

For all his efforts and attempts to coax one out of her, she had never expected that Chat Noir would be the one to receive it. She had also never expected to be the one to initiate it. Honestly, she'd been hoping that her first kiss would be Adrien. Nope. Instead it went to the mangy cat she called a partner. The best part? He didn't even remember. So unless he'd gone looking for footage or his kwami told him, Chat Noir had no idea they'd kissed.

As frustrating as it was, Marinette wasn't bitter.

During his Valentine's Day rampage, Dislocoeur had corrupted Chat Noir. He'd been trying to tell her something and she had allowed herself to be distracted by him and was unprepared for their enemy coming up behind them. He'd taken the hit for her. She had known immediately that something was wrong, even before the effects of the arrow on him became evident. The emotional repercussions from utter hatred he displayed towards her were nothing in comparison to instincts screaming at her that this was _wrong_. He should not be against her; they should not be fighting. He was corrupted and she had to _save_ him.

Did she want to kiss him? Hell no but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do and she had to save Chat Noir. To that end, it was worth it. Although, there was thing that she could never quite let go of, a nagging thought in the back of her mind. What if it had been his first kiss, too?

She could justify giving him her first kiss. She could justify kissing him without his consent. She just didn't feel right knowing she might have taken his first kiss when he had no memory of it.

Of course, there was no way in _hell_ she would ever bring it up.

* * *

The love of his life jumped into the mouth of a T-Rex right before his eyes and Chat Noir swore his heart stopped. A cry ripped its way out of his throat and inside his mind, Plagg screamed.

For the first time in his life, Chat Noir believed himself capable of murder. His time was ticking away but as he whirled his staff aggressively, he was fully prepared to use whatever time remained to _end_ the akuma, victim and all. He did not know if the feeling came from himself, Plagg, or maybe both, but that son of a bitch was going to _pay for this._

Then she emerged alive and unscathed and he couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around her. He'd thought he'd lost her. For a few, horrible seconds he'd thought he'd actually _lost_ her. And Plagg, oh God. Even though the kwami's cry had had no sound, Adrien would never forget it.

" _ **TIKKI!"**_

That night, Plagg told him what happened to a kwami when their Miraculous was destroyed. It was the conduit that allowed them to exist corporeally and on this plane. Without it, they would cease to be.

Adrien nearly threw up. For all he loved his lady, he could not imagine the pain Plagg would go through if he had lost his partner. They'd been together since the beginning, the little god had once admitted, each other's other half. What would it be like to lose someone so vital to you?

"Like losing your twin, your best friend, and your mate all at once," Plagg informed him with an air of detachment that was distinctly unsettling. "Or so I've been told."

Adrien was horrified. "It's… _happened_?"

* * *

"Three times," Tikki admitted to her ashen-faced host. "Their names were Ranné, Amaat, and Kaoss."

"Were they all from different pairs?" Marinette asked.

The kwami nodded. "Ranné represented the element of water. Amaat embodied truth. Kaoss embodied chaos."

Marinette was quiet for a long minute as she considered this. "And their partners?"

Tikki looked like she had eaten something sour and it took her a moment to respond. "They live," she answered flatly. "Which is why you must be careful, Marinette. I do not control what Lucky Charm gives you and I understand you did not have much time to think but so many things could've gone wrong today. I do not want to die but more than that, I do not want to leave Plagg behind."

* * *

Looking back, Adrien was sure the reason he was so behind Nino asking Marinette out was because he knew Nino would never hurt her. He had not forgotten the primal instinct to protect her that had flared once and he knew without a doubt that no such thing would ever occur with Nino. He was too good. Except for a brief hiccup in the beginning, Nino had reached out to Adrien when no one else would. He'd been kind; he'd helped him in the beginning and continued helping him even now. There was no one else in the class he'd rather end up with her.

Yet Nino's infatuation seemed to fade almost overnight, leaving Adrien wondering just how genuine it had been. Nino reassured him that it was nothing to stress about; just that Alya had "explained" a few things to him. Whatever that meant. The end result, Nino had no plans to further pursue their blue-eyed classmate.

Adrien couldn't believe Nino had just let his feelings go like that so suddenly. He was _no_ expert on girls or matters of the heart—and considering he was hopelessly in love with a girl who deliberately hid a part of herself from him, his case was even bleaker than it appeared on the outside. Even still, Adrien did not understand how someone could just simply _stop_ feeling for another person like that. He'd seen Nino. The boy had been beside himself with nerves and his affection had been genuine.

He couldn't imagine not loving Ladybug. From the moment they had met, Chat Noir had felt complete with her. When she was near things were just…right. He was sure they were meant to be together, one way or another. Even if things never progressed the way he wanted, he did not think he could ever truly stop loving her. Never mind _get over her._

"It was a schoolboy crush," Plagg scoffed while Adrien brooded on his couch. "You can't put much stock in those. He'll probably be 'in love' again in two weeks."

"And what about me, Plagg?" he asked tiredly. "Is what I feel just a schoolboy crush?"

Plagg shot him a look of annoyance. "No, it's worse. Much worse. Cringe-worthy. A total appetite killer. Honestly, how anyone can stand to be around you is beyond me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about love, kid," the kwami informed him. "You're so in love with her it's disgusting."

Adrien smirked. "So you believe me now?"

"I always believed you _thought_ you were in love." Plagg floated up to Adrien's face and folded his arms. "Yesterday, I knew that you were."

Nothing like watching the love of their life jump into the jaws of death to pull a genuine reaction out of someone. _Hey, wait…._ "And what about you, Plagg? Do you love Tikki?" Adrien asked.

He tensed, tail lashing once. "There are no words for what I feel for Tikki. Not in your language, at least. Love does not even begin to cover it."

Adrien blinked in surprise at the tiny cat but chose to not comment. What was more powerful than love? Nothing he could think of. Then again, he wasn't a god and he was only fifteen. What did he know about the emotions kwami could feel?

* * *

Plagg, like all other kwami who had been in his position, knew from the start that his host would one day fall in love with his partner. Romantic or platonic, it did not matter; the end result was still the same. Partners always loved each other on some level, they had to in order to survive, but it was the pairs that started together that always shared the deepest connections.

He was a bit concerned this time around. Usually it became obvious fairly early on what kind of love would blossom between the pair. Though Adrien would argue vehemently against it, Plagg thought perhaps it would be platonic love. Sure he thought himself in love with the girl but Plagg knew how fickle the hearts of humans could be, particularly young ones. Oh, he had no doubt that Adrien loved her, but he was hesitant to label it as romantic. Ladybug herself had also shown no signs of romantic feelings for Chat.

The boy's response to Ladybug's apparent death proved him wrong. Through their moment of shared terror and despair he had felt and seen the boy's very soul once more. Adrien Agreste was truly in love with his partner. Yet she felt nothing more than friendship towards him.

It didn't make _sense_. They could not have chosen wrong. He and Tikki had been so careful…

There was something else going on, Plagg was sure of it, he just had no idea what. Contrary to what Adrien believed, though, he was a patient cat. There was plenty of time and absolutely no rush. For now he would kick back and allow events to unfold. Tikki could be counted on to do the same. Knowing her, she would be just as curious to see where this led.

* * *

 **Huehuehuehuheuee.**


	5. Cinq

It was difficult to say who hated it more when Chat was possessed.

He hated that feeling of dread that would wash through him in the split second before everything went blank. He hated waking up somewhere knew, not knowing what he had done, or who he may have hurt, with the only certainly being that he had tried to harm his Lady. He hated that he had failed her.

She hated the way her instincts would scream about him. She hated the invisible wall that would spring up between them and the slightly glazed look in his eyes each time. She hated that she had to fight him. Most of all, she hated that she'd failed him.

 _Miraculous, kwami, partner_.

In these situations they were both sure they'd managed to really fuck up that last one.

* * *

Adrien was full of surprises but nothing about him had surprised Marinette quite like his own lack of self-worth. Hearing how poorly he thought of himself next to her, Marinette had been stunned. She did not think very highly of herself to begin with, at least her real self, and with good reason. But he was _Adrien Agreste_ : model, son of a renowned designer, fencing extraordinaire, (apparently) gaming champion, loved by everyone. For what reason did _he_ think himself lesser than _her_?

She had hastened to reassure him and had offered him her lucky charm. Then her parents had barged in again with another food offering that Adrien eagerly accepted. She did, too, on the condition they be allowed to eat it outside and _away_ from parental intrusion. From there, the day devolved into a whirlwind of violence and video games come to life, and she was able to put the conversation out of her mind. For a while.

Later, though, when she was alone in her room, she remembered his words, his dejected expression, and her heart tightened. Had she really made him feel that bad or was it just the manifestation of something deeper bothering him?

"I don't understand, Tikki," the girl admitted to her kwami. "How could he think that of himself?"

Tikki, who was absorbed in devouring a cookie for her supper, paused mid-chew. Her tail quivered and then she swallowed. "I wonder the same thing about you sometimes, Marinette," she said lightly then took another bite.

* * *

The next day at school, Marinette couldn't help but stare at Adrien. It was like she was seeing him clearly for the first time.

"Salut!" He greeted her with a winning smile as he took his seat in front of her. She echoed him but her mind was far away, in a rainy September afternoon when she had stood underneath the awning of the school entryway and he had greeted her the same way. She had given him the cold shoulder but had listened as he explained himself. She remembered his nervousness as he offered his own naivety in apology and then his umbrella as a white flag.

She'd forgotten. Somehow, she had managed to forget, or perhaps maybe never truly realized, how _scared_ he must have been in those first few days. What must it be like to spend your entire childhood with only Chloe for a friend, homeschooled, sheltered, and then to suddenly leap headfirst into college? The fact it had been his idea didn't change the fact he must have spent every day trying to fit in and just be normal.

Tikki had been right.

For so long she had held him up on a pedestal where she had believed him incapable of fault that she had forgotten he was as human as she was. He had a whole inner life she knew nothing about. What was it like to be the son of a famous designer who never showed up to events or even bought him real birthday presents? What was it like to be a model, someone whose every physical aspect was constantly judged and on display, as a teenager? Marinette got second-hand embarrassment whenever Alya went too far. Did he get the same embarrassment for Chloe every time she pulled a stunt?

 _I never apologized_ , she realized with a start. Misunderstanding or no misunderstanding, she had treated him quite coldly those first two days of school. Yet he had never been anything but warm to her. Who was he kidding? He was so much better than her.

It was too late now to apologize to his face but perhaps there was something else she could do instead.

* * *

"H-hey, um. A-Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"…I um, I don't really get the physics homework. And, uh, I was hoping—wondering if youcouldhelpmemaybeplease?"

"Sure! No problem! I have free time after school today."

"I know—I MEAN—d-do you wanna come over to my house? My dad can make more pie if I ask him."

"Sounds great!"

"You did what?" Adrien's face lit up like the Eiffel Tower at night and Marinette's tummy fluttered.

"I designed Jagged's glasses," she repeated, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"That's so cool! Really! How did you do it?!"

"O-oh, well, I mean, I was the _chasseur_ for our work immersion day and he needed—"

"No, no, no," Adrien interrupted. "I know _how_ you got the opportunity. I meant how did you make them?"

Her jaw dropped and she immediately hunched her shoulders bashfully. "Oh, um…I…really?" she squeaked. "You really wanna know?"

He nodded, wide-eyed and sincere. "I've never seen anything like them. It was from scratch, right? Did you design them, too?"

Marinette was absolutely screaming on the inside but she managed to make it through her explanation with only a bit of a stutter. All the while, Adrien never stopped smiling and she swore her heart never slowed during the entire conversation. Good God this boy was going to be the death of her.

* * *

Adrien didn't know why he was so nervous when he approached Marinette for an autograph. He knew firsthand how annoying it could be to be asked for them but he was pretty sure this hadn't ever been an issue for her before. He was her friend and it wasn't like he was going to make a habit out of it. She'd never once bothered him for an autograph, either.

No big deal. No big deal.

She was his friend.

She was his friend who somehow managed to impress Jagged Stone enough that she got to _design his new album cover_. (He wondered what kind of payment she'd gotten. Was that something he could ask? If it wasn't a handsome sum then he was seriously going to be unimpressed with the rockstar.) There was nothing wrong with wanting her to sign a copy of her work. Nothing at all.

How did other people just walk up and ask him to sign things? Was it easier when it wasn't someone you knew personally?

 _Okay, Adrien. Suck it up and just…go over there. You can do this. You're Chat Noir._

"I swear on brie," Plagg growled from under his shirt, "if you don't go ask the girl, I will do it for you."

* * *

Marinette was now quite certain Adrien Agreste was trying to kill her.

* * *

Years down the road, both Adrien and Marinette would look back and wonder how the incident with Kung Food hadn't been a dead giveaway. Hindsight is 20/20 but they were still ashamed of how utterly oblivious they'd been.

The hotel had been sealed with impenetrable caramel—which sounded completely ridiculous when said aloud but it was what it was—and the only way in or out was through the roof. If one of them had tried to reach the building from the outside, they would've immediately gone to the roof. Had they both been staying in the hotel (for whatever reason), the odds of them both arriving in the lobby at the exact same time were ridiculously low. In hindsight, it only made sense that they had started in the same place. Being the only two teenagers around, who else could it have been?

Of course, it's hard to be objective when it's your uncle or your oldest friend up there and the former is trying to cook up the latter in an evil stew. Priorities.

At least they both got to eat afterwards.

* * *

One of the first lessons kwami taught their new hosts was the importance of their partner. A Guardian's partner was their one true ally, their lifeline, their only guaranteed companion throughout life—kwami notwithstanding. Whether they became lovers at some point or remained platonic throughout their lives, they would always love and care for each other deeply. Where one went, the other followed. They travelled together, often living together and if not then in close proximity. They fought together…and sometimes died together.

When Ladybug and Chat Noir met, they were both aware of the connection they were supposed to forge. There was nervousness, of course, and uncertainty—did they try and force their relationship to grow? There was no need, of course; they fell together quite quickly. Like two pieces of a puzzle that hadn't realized they were supposed to be together until they were joined. It took some time to process the fact that they were going to be together for their entire _lives_ but they were both sure it would work. They would make it work.

They really needn't have worried but neither kwami bothered to tell them that.

The bond between them was unlike anything a normal human could understand and it ran deeper than love. Initially, it allowed them to know each other on sight when transformed. Untransformed, it would draw them together. As Adrien had learned, when one was transformed and the other was not, it could cause the former to feel protective, particularly when the latter was being threatened. Over time, the bond would mature and their connection would grow, eventually reaching the point where each would always know which direction the other was in or if they were in extreme distress.

Of course, such a connection came with one major downside: it ensured that a Guardian would feel the exact moment when their partner died.

It was a sensation not easily described to someone who had no frame of reference for such thing but it was something the surviving Guardians never forgot. Most feared the prospect of ever feeling such a thing again for the rest of their lives. In this regard, the lucky ones were those who died first.

* * *

 **I bet y'all are starting to wonder where the promised angst is.**


	6. Six

Ladybug was not perfect. Chat was not so blinded by her that he allowed himself to forget she was human. She was kind, brave, clever, beautiful, and a badass. But she was also flawed; stubborn, self-conscious (although she hid it well), and she had a bit of a temper that always managed to catch him off guard whenever it manifested.

She didn't like Chloe for some reason. As far as Chat knew, his eldest friend had never given her any reason to dislike her. Well, perhaps Chloe's track record for causing akuma could've been a part of it. His skills at reading people weren't the best but something about her body language and attitude indicated it ran deeper than that, though. Ladybug had no patience for Chloe's antics and didn't even pretend to entertain them. Especially not when Chloe tried to help out against the akumatized Sabrina (which, by the way, was her fault) by dressing up as Ladybug.

He would admit that Chloe had taken a huge risk and it wasn't necessarily a smart thing to do. She had known where the akuma would be, though, so that was helpful. He didn't necessarily approve of the way Ladybug had handled the situation, particularly since it had lead to Chloe's akumatization.

(Two in one day. Papillon didn't waste time.)

Chat had tried to go easy on her during their fight. It was Chloe, after all. She was his oldest friend…homicidal akuma or not. Of course, it was a combination of this negligence plus trying to keep an eye out for Ladybug that lead to him being hogtied on his own weapon. Ladybug had to rescue him. He knew it had been her, who else would've dared come so close with Antibug on the prowl? She would not have abandoned him to his fate. She was his partner.

Despite how embarrassed he was at his situation, or perhaps because of it, Chat kept his eyes firmly ahead. He would not look at her. Sure…it was… _kinda_ …okay, it was definitely her fault he was in this mess to begin with, but he still owed her her privacy. He respected her far too much to try and catch a glimpse of her when she did not want him to.

She did not speak as she untied his feet or as she pulled him back far enough that he could sit on the edge of the roof while she retracted his baton. From there, it was simply a matter of wriggling his way free from the ropes.

"Thank you, my lady," he murmured to her. She still said nothing and he listened to the sound of her footsteps retreating. He turned, then, just in time to see a flash of pink as she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

" _Chat Noir and I, we're a team. If you want to fight me, you also have to fight him."_

* * *

Considering it was the first time he had ever spoken to the love of his life without the guise of Chat Noir to protect him, Adrien thought he handled himself quite well. (Although maybe he shouldn't have told her she had his mother's smile.)

Though he'd only been able to spend a few scant minutes with her, Adrien quickly noticed that Ladybug was acting unusual. She acted unsure around him, fumbling over her words even while trying to seem as confident as she usually did. He couldn't think of why she would be like that unless—

Unless…

Oh, God. Was she a fan?

 _Help._

* * *

Marinette was now fairly certain that Adrien Agreste had a crush on Ladybug.

 _Help._

* * *

Unlike Chat Noir, Ladybug was unsurprised by the rush of instinct _screaming_ at her to protect Adrien Agreste the moment danger threatened him. She cared for him; of course she would want to defend him from the horde of zombielike victims swarming the mansion. Of course she would want to do everything in her power to keep him safe. What she hadn't expected was for him to seem…vulnerable to her. He was a fencer! He could probably take care of himself pretty easily if push came to shove. So why was some part of her _screaming_ that he was weak and unprotected?

She tried to rationalize it as him being an ordinary person while she was not…but even that didn't feel quite right. She simply could not explain it.

* * *

Chat Noir could handle a lot of things. Akuma attacks, chaos and destruction, grueling hours of study, endless photo shoots, an endless loop of bitter disappointments, Chloe embarrassing him, and the other things life liked to throw at him. He had learned how to function under great stress and little sleep. He could fight until he was sore and still walk away with a spring in his step and nothing but Ladybug's smile to sooth the aches. He could face down people turned into monsters.

He could handle all of that because they were things he'd signed onto.

He'd chosen to take fencing. He'd chosen to attend public school. He'd agreed to be a model. He'd agreed to become a Guardian and accepted all the responsibilities of the mantle, as well as the burden of Destruction.

What he could not handle were the people in his life being at risk. First Nino was akumatized, then Alya, Chloe, as well as most of his classmates, all over the course of the school year. And now his father…the only parent he had left…his _father_ ….

Papillon had gone too far. Whether he'd known it or not, that son of a bitch had nearly gotten his father _killed._ He was thankful Ladybug had managed to talk some sense into him. If he'd gone charging after Gabriel the way he'd wanted to, that most certainly would've tipped off Papillon. But if either of them had been any slower, Adrien would probably be an orphan now and that was absolutely not okay.

Gabriel Agreste was not the world's best father but poor parenting skills didn't change the fact that the man _was_ his father. The only one left in Adrien's life who loved him…at least he hoped. (Plagg didn't count since it was difficult to say what that little kwami felt about anything that wasn't a dairy product.) Even though his father continued to disappoint him, he was all he had and Adrien would not tolerate harm coming to his father. Ever. Not even the threat of it. Not so long as he lived and breathed.

Chat Noir had no idea why Papillon was after their Miraculous other than the fact that he wanted their powers. Plagg had never quite confirmed this but Adrien couldn't think of any other reason why someone would want them. He would probably kill them so he could actually use the powers. That didn't make it personal, though. To Adrien, he had been just a _connard_ who craved power and didn't care who got hurt in the process, like any other villain.

But now, whether he'd meant to or not, Papillon had made things personal.

* * *

" _I never noticed you wear a ring…"_

* * *

"Hey, Chat?

"Yes, my Lady?"

"Did you notice—I mean…did you think Gabriel Agreste was acting a little odd?"

"…What do you mean?"

"Well, before you showed up, he and I were talking and, um, he—out of nowhere, he tried to touch my earrings."

"He what?!"

"Yeah, and then on the roof, he took a look at your ring."

"…I guess he did."

"Did it make you uncomfortable? Because I'm not kidding, when he reached for my earring I felt like running to get away from him. I would have if you hadn't called right then."

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm."

"I don't care! He's—he's not…us. The only other person who can touch my Miraculous, well, other than my kwami, is you. 'Cause I know you won't try to take them or...break them…."

"He wouldn't!"

"But it made you uncomfortable, didn't it? …I saw your face. You didn't like it, either."

"Alright, you're right. I didn't. But I mean can you blame him? He's never seen us up close and it's no secret that Papillon is after our Miraculous. He was probably just curious."

"I guess."

"C'mon, my Lady. Why would he try and take them? It's not like he's Papillon or anything."

* * *

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**


	7. Sept

**Now that we're getting into stuff that does not occur as it does in canon, some sections will be on the longer side. Chapters will stay roughly the same size.**

* * *

Marinette disliked Lila on sight. The way she was looking at Adrien, the way she had her finger on his chest, the way he stood there looking like he was extremely uncomfortable and wanted to run for his life. Marinette's hackles went up at the sight of him looking so distressed. Why didn't he stop her? Back off? He clearly did _not_ like what was happening.

Chloe had a remarkable talent for knowing when Marinette was spending time with Adrien and appearing just to get between them or give her the stink eye. And Marinette hadn't even held his hand, let alone try to put the moves on him, or anything like what Lila was doing up there! So where the hell was she now and why wasn't she all over the new girl for this offense?

Oh, there she was. Fuming in the corner with Sabrina, probably about the song Jagged Stone had apparently written about the girl. Great. It was up to Marinette to rescue him from the hands of the new girl.

She snuck into the library behind them, ready to rescue her friend at the first sign of distress and not at all because she wanted to hear what they were talking about or to stop Lila from running off with her crush. Nope. She was doing this completely out of concern for her friend.

When she got to the table where Adrien was, Lila was nowhere to be found. She wasn't going to get a better opportunity. "Hey, Adrien," she greeted as she stepped around the bookcase she had hidden behind.

Adrien jumped but perked up almost immediately when he saw her. "Marinette!" He grinned in delight and, she was fairly certain, relief. "Hey yourself."

She gave a little wave, rocking back on her heels. "What's up? Can I sit?"

"Sure." Adrien pushed his bag closer to his own chair motioned to the one next to him. "I'm just, uh, going to help the new student with homework."

"New student?" Marinette asked innocently, head cocked to the side, as she sat down "Oh! You mean this 'Lila' I've been hearing so much about?"

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. That's her. She, um, she'll be back in a moment."

"I'd like to meet her. Unless, I mean, I could go if you want to just hang out with her."

"No, no, stay," he insisted and upon seeing the flash of panic in his eyes, Marinette nodded. Her tummy tingled at the realization that Adrien considered her enough of a friend that he would ask her to stay. Whatever she did next would not involve making her move. That wasn't fair to him.

Lila chose to make her return then. "I thought we could tackle the history homework—oh. Hello."

"Hi!" Marinette chirped. "I'm Marinette, Adrien's friend." _And hero right now._

Lila's eyes narrowed slightly and Marinette wondered if Adrien was in-tune enough with female body language to catch the meaning behind the motion. She was being sized up and assessed. In the next few moments, Lila would determine whether or not she was a threat to whatever she was trying to start with Adrien or if she needed to reserve judgment. Marinette kept her expression as friendly as possible and willed all of her cuteness to the surface.

The new girl smiled and it seemed genuine. "I'm Lila. Are you in our class?" She walked over to the chair where her own bag was and sat down.

Marinette nodded. "Class president, actually. I sit behind Adrien."

"That's why you couldn't sit there this morning," Adrien explained. Marinette had missed homeroom so her seat would've been wide open.

"I see." Lila was assessing again. Better head her off quick.

"My friend Alya sits next to me. She says you gave her an interview for the Ladyblog or something?"

"Oh!" the new girl nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Marinette bounced in her seat. "Ooh, do you know Ladybug?" Adrien sat up straighter.

Lila hesitated only a moment, glancing between them, and then nodded eagerly. Marinette's hands curled into fists under the table and felt Tikki wriggle in her purse. Oh, it was _on_ now. She was not going to allow some liar use her like that. Fortunately, Lila, whose eyes were only for Adrien, missed any anger that might have shown on her face.

Adrien, who seemed to be in awe of the lying little—

"You do?" he blurted out.

"Really?" Marinette gasped.

"Whoa."

"How did you meet her? Do you know Chat Noir, too?!"

Lila lifted her hand to slow the torrent of questions. "Whoa, whoa, slow down! One at a time. French isn't my native language, remember?"

"Sorry," they both apologized at once and Marinette did genuinely feel bad. But only for a moment.

"Okay, let me think. Yes: I do. She rescued me once, like I told your friend. And we've been good friends since. Like this." She held up her right hand crossed her fingers.

"Wow," Adrien said and she thought he might have sounded a bit envious. Interesting. "That's so cool."

Marinette moved in for the kill. "Could you possibly get us their autographs?"

Before Lila could respond, Adrien's phone alarm went off. He scrambled to his feet and stammered out apologies and excuses about fencing and saying they'd have to try again some other time. Lila looked downcast but Marinette nodded in understanding. Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder, his back to Lila, and gave her a small smile. Then he hurried away, leaving the two girls alone at the table.

Marinette turned back to Lila and both girls regarded each other cautiously.

"So, are you close friends?" Lila didn't even try to conceal the fact that she was fishing now.

Marinette ignored her question. "Adrien doesn't make friends easily and I think the only one he's really close to is Nino. But he is my friend and as his friend, I don't want to see him hurt."

"I'm…sorry?"

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "If Adrien finds out you lied to get close to him, he'll be _devastated_."

"I didn't lie!" Lila protested.

"Oh, yeah?" Marinette leaned back in her chair. "Did you know this school has the highest rate of akumatization in the city?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "It does?"

"Yep. Courtesy of our very own Chloe Bourgeois." Marinette rolled her eyes in annoyance. "So Ladybug comes around pretty often. What do you think she's going to say when she finds out you've been telling everyone you're her good friend?"

Lila's mouth opened but nothing came out and she closed it so fast that her teeth clicked together. "Listen, you little—"

"Yes?"

"What do you want?" she seethed. "I'm just trying to make _friends_."

Marinette sighed and pushed her chair away from the table. "If you two want to be friends, that's your business, but I won't let you build a relationship with him based on lies. I won't tell him you lied but if I see you touch him again when he's so _clearly_ uncomfortable or if I hear you telling him any more ridiculous stories…I might have to start debunking some of your claims."

Lila jumped to her feet. "Are you threatening me?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, not at all. Just warning you. Good luck on your homework."

She walked away.

* * *

Adrien wasn't blind to the slightly hostile looks Lila would throw Marinette's way sometimes, nor was he blind to the way Marinette would respond a challenging smirk or quirk of her eyebrow. He could not for the life of him figure out what it meant, though. They had gotten along fine in the library!

Alya, too, seemed to throw a lot of frosty looks in Lila's direction. He wondered if it was a girl thing. Chloe didn't seem to like her, either, but that could've been because of how close Lila was to Ladybug.

He asked Marinette once if something had happened after he left, to which she shook her head. "No. We just came to an understanding." She wouldn't say anything further and Adrien didn't want to try and force her so he let it go. As curious as he was, he wasn't going to ask Lila. Marinette might think he was going behind her back and he didn't want to upset her.

But it made being friends with Lila difficult. Something clearly had happened between them or they had taken opposite sides on some argument—whatever the case, neither girl had any interesting in being friends or friendly, only civil. Ayla downright wasn't civil. She, Marinette, and Chloe had been his friends for a while and he couldn't just pick Lila over them. He didn't want to, either.

He really wished he could ask Ladybug about Lila, too. He wanted to know how much this _outsider_ knew about her, him…them. But doing so could reveal a lot about his civilian identity and she didn't want to know. He respected that. She never brought Lila up, though, and when he'd asked Lila about Ladybug she had been pretty tight lipped. After a while he began to assume that perhaps Lila had been over exaggerating a bit about her relationship with Ladybug. After all, Chloe did exactly the same thing.

* * *

Marinette was devastated to learn that she would not be attending the same lycée as Adrien. His father insisted that if he was to remain in public school for the remainder of his education that he would attend somewhere that would provide him with the knowledge and credentials he would need to succeed. Adrien told her that he had tried to argue against it because he didn't want to leave his friends but his father had not budged.

So while Marinette and most of her classmates would be attending a lycée just a few miles from their collège, Adrien would be attending the prestigious School Lois Le Grande. Those who did not know Adrien personally were surprised that he had the brains to make it in but all of his friends were proud and ecstatic for him. Well, as ecstatic as they could be since it meant he'd be leaving them.

Apparently, Chloe had tried to get in as well, but not even being the mayor's daughter had been enough to secure her a place with her precious _Adrichou._ Instead she would be attending a private school with a decent curriculum that Marinette suspected had been bribed to let her in. She was sour about it for days and she took it out on anyone who crossed her path, including Marinette. Adrien was having none of it, though, and the one time Chloe tried to go off on her, he stepped in almost immediately.

It made her smile each time.

* * *

 **...What do you mean Adrien's supposed to have the book?**


	8. Huit

**What does the fox say?**

* * *

The last day of school was very bittersweet. Teachers said their goodbyes, some teary-eyed as they told their students how proud they were of how far they'd come. Students hugged each other, promised to stay in touch, and discussed plans for the upcoming months.

For Adrien, it marked the end of his first year of public school. He was thrilled to have made it through, to have made friends, to have gotten real freedom for once in his life. He didn't want it to end. But, like all things, it did. And when the final bell of the day rang, he allowed himself to get swept away by his friends as they raced out of the doors of Collège Francois-Dupont for the last time, whooping and hollering with them.

* * *

On the second day of summer vacation, Nathalie came to his room to inform him that he had a guest waiting in the foyer. Lila. She smiled when she saw him coming down the stairs. Her long hair was pulled up into a nice updo instead of her preferred low ponytail. He noticed she was dressed a bit more revealingly than she ever did in school and wondered had brought that on. What really caught his eye, though, was the strange necklace she wore that looked almost like a fox's tail. It was very unique.

"Hey, Lila," he greeted.

She clasped her hands behind her back nervously, completely the opposite of the way she had been when they'd met. "Hey, um, could we talk?"

He hesitated and then nodded. "Sure."

"Is there somewhere private we could go?"

He had to try very hard not to roll his eyes. He knew she probably meant his room but no way was he taking her in there. Chloe was the only girl allowed into his room alone; anyone else certainly would spark a lecture from his father. While he would normally seize any opportunity for time with his father…that was most definitely not something he wanted to have to sit through. Preferably ever. "Not inside. Come on."

Adrien lead her outside, away from those who would eavesdrop, and greatly reducing the chance of his father seeing her and making assumptions. He'd rather Gabriel not get it in his head that Adrien might possibly have a girlfriend. That could lead to a number of conversations far worse than the one that bringing her into his room would cause. He was not prepared for or really interested in hearing those, either, particularly since the only one he wanted for a girlfriend was his partner. There was no way that could happen right now so why even bother?

He paused near the gate and glanced around. Nathalie was nowhere in sight and the Gorilla had not spontaneously appeared like he often did when Adrien was considering leaving. He wasn't going to get a better chance. So instead of heading to one of the benches on the property, Adrien opened the gate and slipped out into the street.

Lila followed. "Where are we going?"

"Well, unless you want to get monitored by cameras or eavesdropped on, we're can't talk around here," Adrien explained. "You said private so I assumed you meant away from who might overhear and actually care."

"Oh," she said softly. "That's probably good, yeah."

It was only a few blocks to the park near Marinette's house so that's where he headed. Lila walked beside him and though he was no expert in body language, she seemed more confident now that they were out of his house. He didn't blame her. The portrait hanging in the foyer wasn't exactly very welcoming.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"Well, first, I wanted to…apologize for how things were at school. I really did want to be your friend. I still do, very much. I think it'll be possible now since we're going to different schools than Marinette."

Adrien was taken aback. "Marinette? What does she have to do with anything?"

Lila gave him a distressed look. "This is why I wanted to talk in private. I've wanted to tell you for weeks but she was always there every time I tried to get close to you. Her or Alya or Chloe. Marinette must have lied to Alya to get her to believe her. I don't know why Chloe doesn't like me," she added, "but she doesn't seem to like anyone anyway."

Adrien stopped walking. "What are you talking about?" Lila went ahead a few more paces before she realized, then turned around. She glanced around them at the people walking up and down the sidewalk and shook her head.

"Not here."

He didn't like this. Lila wasn't making sense. He had half a mind to turn around and go home and tell Natalie to not let her back in. But he was also very curious about what had turned the girls in his life against Lila and she was, apparently, about to offer answers. He couldn't say no.

* * *

"Marinette threatened me after you left the library that day." Lila told him as they sat together on a bench in the park. "She didn't believe that I could possibly know Ladybug and she said that if I continued to lie, she would tell everyone I was a liar so everyone would hate me."

"She what?" Adrien blurted out. Marinette? She wouldn't do something like that. Sure, he knew first hand that her bite was as good as her bark when she was provoked, but what Lila was saying just wasn't like her. "That's not—she wouldn't—no way. That's not like her at all."

Lila shrugged. "Apparently it is. She must have told Alya I was a liar, though. Didn't you notice that my interview wasn't uploaded to the Ladyblog?"

He shook his head in denial. "She wouldn't do something like that. I _know her_."

"Did you ever ask her what was going on?" she asked curiously. "You must have noticed something was up."

"I did, but…"

' _We just came to an understanding.'_

Adrien sucked in a sharp breath and then shook his head again. No. He was missing something. Lila wasn't telling him the whole truth. He would absolutely believe her if she'd accused Chloe because he knew her and he knew how she worked, but he also knew Marinette, and she just was not capable of this level of cruelty.

Lila frowned apologetically. "I really am sorry, Adrien. I didn't want to mess up your last month of collège by telling you but she is mean and a liar."

"You're wrong," he said simply and then stood. He needed to talk to Marinette. Now.

" _Aspetta_!" she cried, reaching out to grab his hand. "I can prove it."

"How?" he demanded harshly.

"Because I do know Ladybug. She's my friend. Here, look," she held up her necklace. He examined the odd tail-like design for a moment and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Do you know what this is?"

"No."

Lila smiled. "That's alright. Will you let me explain? Please?"

Adrien hesitated for a long moment, considering his options. In the end curiosity won out and he nodded. She released his hand and he sat back down. "I'm listening."

"You know there are other heroes out there like Ladybug and Chat Noir, right?"

He nodded. "I know they exist but I don't really know anything about them."

"When I was in in the United States, I saw two of them in action on the news. A deer and a…" she paused, nose wrinkling, then said in English, " _peacock_."

He nodded in understanding and his mind reeled. A deer and a peacock…he wondered what their names were. He wondered what their powers were, what forces they embodied, how long they'd been together, what their kwami were like. …And why Papillon wasn't after them.

"And not just them!" Lila went on. "Roma had its own hero a long time ago: Volpina. …A fox," she added helpfully. It dawned him exactly two seconds later and he looked down at her necklace again. No…way. "She was my grandmother."

Plagg suddenly squirmed against Adrien's back and he figured his kwami was probably just as shocked as he was. "A-are you saying…this is a miraculous?"

Lila nodded excitedly.

"A-and…are you…" Adrien trailed off. Warning bells were going off in his mind. He'd never told anyone. He wasn't _supposed_ to tell anyone. So why was she telling him, someone she barely knew?

* * *

It was quite by chance that Marinette overheard their conversation. Perhaps the result of the luck that came with her powers. She was in the mood to have a bit of quality time with her partner that didn't involve an akuma attack and was going to run around some of the more crowded areas of the city until Chat heard and came running.

She was on her way out when she just so happened to spot Adrien and Lila entering the park. And…wow. Lila was certainly trying to catch someone's eye in that outfit and it didn't take a genius to figure out whose she was going for. Curiosity and protectiveness (and not an ounce of jealousy, thank you _very much,_ Tikki) of Adrien warred with the desire to hang out with her partner. The former won out and she decided to follow them. She followed them from a distance and hid behind a nearby tree, just close enough that she would be able to hear their conversation, but far enough that she could (hopefully) sneak away undetected.

She tore up the grass around her with her nails as she listened to Lila lie through her teeth about her. The only things that stopped her from storming up and ripping her a new one were Tikki, sitting in her lap and trying to soothe her with whispers, and Adrien's steadfast denial. He knew she wouldn't be that petty and Lila's wasn't just going to take her word for it. She might have fallen a bit more for him right then.

Her anger only grew as Lila began to discuss other Guardians. Either she was telling the truth (and, oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to actually meet older, more experienced Guardians) or she was lying and Marinette strongly suspected the latter. How _dare_ she lie about other Guardians?

Tikki hummed thoughtfully. "She's a pretty good liar but I think she might be telling the truth." Marinette raised her eyebrows. "One of the other pairs are a deer and peacock but it's been centuries since I've seen them."

A small amount of her anger dissipated but then it came back in full force when she began talking about the fox. The moment Lila claimed her grandmother had been this so-called 'Volpina', Tikki's eyes flipped wide before narrowing into slits. _"Liar,_ " she hissed.

That was it.

Marinette tucked Tikki into her purse, leaped to her feet, and took off at a run out of the park. She had to stop this _now._ Lila was defiling something sacred with her lies and Marinette— _Ladybug—_ would not let it stand. She ducked into the nearby alleyway and transformed. Tikki's anger flooded through her as the suit covered her skin. Ladybug seethed with the anger of them both.

Chat Noir had a right to be here for this, some part of her reasoned as she used her yo-yo to get to the roof. There was no time call and wait for him to arrive. By then, Lila and Adrien could be gone. She had to deal with this immediately. She would explain later. This ended now.

* * *

"…that's how Ladybug and I got to be friends. After she saved me, I showed her my necklace and explained what it was…and who I was."

 _Okay_ , _what_? Adrien frowned. How could Ladybug have learned something so significant as this and kept it from him? This was huge! Unless…What if she didn't tell him because she didn't think the information was safe with him? Hadn't he already proven time and again that he was not infallible? Was she afraid that if an akuma took control of him again, he would tell Papillon?

It was too late. He knew now. If he got corrupted again, Lila wouldn't be safe. He'd have to warn Ladybug—

Adrien was startled out of his thoughts when something red landed less than two feet from him. He whipped around, ready to defend Lila, only to find himself face to face with Ladybug herself. He grinned in delight at the sight of his lady and the familiar thrum of recognition that always came when he saw her. Her eyes flickered to him for just a moment then they locked onto Lila and he realized immediately that something was wrong.

"Liar!" she snarled.

Lila shrank away from Ladybug. Adrien opened his mouth to protest, to ask what was going on, but Ladybug didn't give him a chance.

"How dare you?" Ladybug demanded, taking an aggressive step forward. "You lying little wretch, who do you think you are?! How dare you try and use us for your own gain? You don't know anything about me, about _us_ , and you are certainly not one of us!"

Lila was trembling like a leaf, eyes blown wide, and she seemed to be trying to disappear into the bench. Adrien was stunned. He had never seen Ladybug this upset but he did not blame her. In the span of about fifteen seconds she had managed to confirm every single one of his doubts from the entire conversation. Lila had been lying the whole time.

Ladybug jabbed her finger at Lila's chest. "That…whatever that is—it's a fake! A trinket! That's no miraculous and we both know it! He might not know any better but do you really think I wouldn't know a miraculous when I saw one? You disgrace all of us! This isn't a game! It's a duty, a responsibility, a _burden_ , one that you will never understand will certainly _never_ bear."

Lila burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. But Ladybug wasn't done.

"You're a liar, you're pathetic, and you will never deserve to be one of us. Or to be friends with someone like him."

With a humiliated sob, Lila fled.

Ladybug breathed heavily for a few seconds as she watched her go and then exhaled roughly. Adrien stood up cautiously. He had to remind himself that he was not Chat Noir right now and she had no idea he was her partner. Almost anything he could say to her would most definitely be taken the wrong way. But he was angry, hurt, and just all around confused.

"What…just happened?" he asked, probably sounding harsher than he'd intended.

"I'm so sorry." Ladybug turned and ducked her head. "I was nearby. I heard almost everything she said to you. I wasn't going to interfere but then…" Ladybug exhaled through her teeth again. "I couldn't stand by and let her just _lie_ like that. I know you don't understand but it—being a miraculous wielder is something very special. Sacred, even."

He did understand. He nodded.

"And she…I was offended because she was lying about me but also because she was lying about others like me. If there really is a fox miraculous then I don't think they would have appreciated her claims, either."

"Don't you think you were a little harsh, though?" Adrien replied.

Ladybug shook her head. "I'm sorry if I scared you, I really am, but she needed to be taught a lesson. Lying and saying she knows me is one thing. I'm sure dozens of people probably do it. But what she was doing was worse. We're not superheroes and this isn't a comic book and she has no right to claim something that isn't hers just to get people to like her. It's insulting and it disgraces everything we've done."

Less than twenty minutes later, an asteroid fell from the sky and it was stopped by a flying figure who looked very much like a fox.

Neither Chat Noir nor Ladybug could believe their eyes.

* * *

 **Damn Marinette. It's hard to keep a level head when you're pissed and your kwami's pissed, too.**


	9. Neuf

"Okay," Chat deadpanned when he landed beside his partner on top of the Louvre. The foxlike girl who had seemingly just saved the museum (and likely the entire city, based on the size of the thing) from utter destruction stood on a section of the room nearly opposite of them. "Where did she come from?"

Ladybug shook her head. She didn't take her eyes off the girl but she felt herself relax at his arrival. "This isn't possible."

Chat cocked his head to the side. "My lady?"

"Th-there was this girl…about ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago." She shook her head again. "She was claiming to have a Miraculous—about being descended from a hero named Volpina."

Below them, the people chanted that very name over and over in praise.

"But she _can't_ be," Ladybug insisted. "It was fake! I saw it with my own eyes, it was _empty_."

Chat Noir agreed wholeheartedly. The moment Ladybug had swung away, Plagg had begun raging about Lila's lies, which apparently had been numerous. The only thing she may not have lied about was seeing the deer and the peacock, as both were very real and could very well have been actively combating something during Lila's lifetime. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

And yet…

"Does she look fake to you?" he asked.

The fox heroine was basking in the cheers of the people below. She must have sensed their gazes because she abruptly looked around and spotted them on the other side of the Louvre. She waved and sprinted towards them.

"No," Ladybug said. "And that's the problem. There was no kwami, nothing. It was just a necklace. It can't be her."

He nodded, silently agreeing. "So who is it?"

Volpina landed in front of them and straightened up. Her suit was orange and white, with black gloves and boots, like the body of a fox. A tail-like belt wrapped around her waist and hung down behind her legs in the way that Chat Noir's did. A pair of long, pointed ears sat atop her head, her hair was tied back in a low ponytail tipped with white (similar to her tail), and her face was hidden behind an orange mask. In her hand she held a long, slender flute.

"Hey, you two! You're just in time, I need a hand!"

* * *

Neither of them was sure how to feel when they saw the figure in purple, whom Volpina claimed to be Papillon, on the rooftop just up the road. He was just…standing there doing nothing. It didn't seem right. Papillon had always been this mysterious figure operating from the shadows, not something tangible, physical. Not someone they could reach out and touch. Most importantly, if he was actually out and about, he should be doing _something_.

"I don't like this," Ladybug spoke for both of them. She looked away from 'Papillon' and frowned at Volpina. The supposed Guardian was crouched between her and her partner and Ladybug decided she did not like that either.

The asteroid, Volpina, and Papillon, all within five minutes of each other; Lila getting reamed for pretending to be a Guardian and a new Guardian showing up immediately after. There was too much coincidence going on, even for the paragon of good luck to tolerate.

Then there was Volpina herself. By herself. Guardians came in pairs. There were always two, a male and a female, each representing one corresponding opposite. That was just how it worked. Stronger than the surreal feeling of meeting another Guardian was the eeriness at meeting only _one_. Where was her counterpart? Why wasn't he helping? Why hadn't he shown himself?

Of course, there were the three dead kwami so it was entirely possible Volpina the host of one of the survivors. She couldn't rule that out just yet. The last thing she wanted was to insult a genuine Guardian.

Ladybug locked eyes with Chat and he nodded. "Who are you?" Ladybug asked her.

The newcomer cocked her head to the side. "I'm Volpina. Didn't we establish this?"

"No," Chat said. He straightened up and stepped around Volpina to stand beside his partner. "And that doesn't tell us anything. Why are you here? Why now?"

Volpina waved her hand dismissively. "I've been busy with my own things. I decided to come here when I was done."

"What's your Miraculous?" Ladybug pressed. "What power does it give you?"

Volpina didn't miss a beat. She held up the necklace around her neck, identical to the one that Lila had worn before. Ladybug couldn't believe it. "I can fly. I have super-strength—"

"No," Ladybug interrupted. "That's not what I meant. What's your power? What do you represent?"

"Represent…?" she asked slowly. "I don't understand. French isn't my native language, I'm sorry."

 _ **LIAR!**_ Her kwami screamed in her mind. From the way Chat stiffened, she suspected his had done the same. It was not often their kwami spoke through them, or were even alert enough to register what was going on while transformed. Normally they awoke with memories after the fact, at least according to Tikki, but their hosts' uneasiness must have been enough to keep them awake.

Ladybug and Chat Noir glanced at each other and he took a step forward, subtly placing himself between her and the other girl. "Where's your partner, Volpina?"

"Partner?" she laughed as if it were the silliest thing. "I don't have a partner."

"Why?"

"Well, I'm powerful enough on my own."

Chat Noir took a deep breath and anger thrummed through Ladybug once more as she realized what was happening. Lila had claimed to be a Guardian, Lila had been humiliated and ran away. Lila had not possessed a real Miraculous. Now here she was, wearing the clothes of a Guardian, with powers only one of them could display. Like L'Imposteur had done.

She was an akuma.

"No offense," Volpina added, misunderstanding the looks on their faces. "I wouldn't mind partnering with you, though."

"Sorry, Volpina," Ladybug said calmly as she reached for her yo-yo. Then she scowled. "But Guardians only."

Ladybug hurled her yo-yo at Volpina and she disappeared in a puff of orange smoke.

* * *

Later, when it was over and Volpina had met her demise, there had been explanations but no apologies from either side, and Lila had left with spiteful words on her tongue. Ladybug seemed drained and Chat was concerned. They both agreed to quickly recharge and meet back at the top of the Eiffel Tower once more.

She beat him back probably because her kwami didn't require Camembert to get going again. When he arrived, she immediately started towards him and he knew from the look on her face alone that she needed a hug. He opened his arms and she sagged into them with a sigh. Chat hugged her tightly and rested his cheek on the top of her head, grateful for the chance to hold her. The circumstances could've been better but he'd take what he could get.

"I wanted to hang out with you today," she sighed. "I was going to run around until your buggy-sense went off…or whatever you call it, and you came out."

He grinned. His 'buggy-sense' was the Ladybug sighting page on the Ladyblog but she didn't need to know that.

She sighed again. "But then…."

"Tell me everything, please," Chat requested. He already knew most of it but he wanted to be able to talk to her in the future about it without having to pretend. Ladybug complied, explaining what had happened in the park, and repeated almost word for word what he remembered her yelling at Lila.

There was one thing still nagging at him. "How did you even over hear the conversation to begin with?"

"I was in the park already and I recognized Adrien, I thought about transforming to say hi," she explained. "Then I heard her say Marinette's name. She actually _is_ a friend of mine."

Chat Noir's eyes widened. Marinette was? Really? He'd assumed they'd been at least acquainted in order for her to be able to get ahold of Ladybug when L'Imposteur targeted her, but a friend? He wondered why Marinette hadn't mentioned that before. Then he remembered what Lila said about Marinette accusing her of lying. Had she really? Was it because she'd known? And, if so, why hadn't she told him about Lila?

He needed to speak with her…but his Lady needed him more.

Ladybug, oblivious to his inner turmoil, went right on speaking. "And I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I wasn't going to step in unless I heard something from Marinette but then Lila started talking about the Miraculous. I wanted to get you but there wasn't time."

Chat began rubbing soothing circles on her back. "Why?"

"You're a Guardian, too. You had a right to be there."

 _I was_ , he thought and nuzzled closer. "Thanks. I don't think I could've added on, though. Sounds like you said everything I would have. …I think you might have been a bit harsh but I wasn't there and I didn't have an angry kwami influencing me, either."

"I was harsh," she agreed. "Maybe more than I should have been. But I'm not sorry."

He didn't expect her to be.

* * *

Adrien told Marinette everything Lila had said about her while she listened silently. When he was finished, she took a deep breath, and began an intense study of her shoes. "She was…sort of right. I did not threaten her but I did tell her to not lie to you anymore. I warned her that Ladybug ended up coming to our school a lot and would probably not be happy to hear Lila had been lying about her. …I told her if she continued to lie or if she…if she didn't respect your personal space, I might start debunking her stories." She looked up, then. "But I never threatened her. I would never."

"I know," he replied. "That's what I told her, but..."

"But?"

"This means you lied to me, too."

Marinette looked away again. "I didn't see it that way."

Adrien was quiet for a long moment. Marinette saw Tikki peek out from behind some books on her desk and smile encouragingly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

She swallowed. "I didn't want... I didn't want you to be sad. I don't know what she told you when you met but everything she'd said about Ladybug wasn't true. I knew it wasn't."

"How?"

Marinette bit her lip and finally looked him in the eye. "We're... She doesn't get to talk to many people as Ladybug because everyone's star struck. I wasn't." She shrugged. "She was happy to have someone normal to talk to that wouldn't treat her like Ladybug. I don't know who she is under there, I don't get to see her often, but she told me I was her friend. That means something to me. And then Lila was just—just..."

"And you couldn't stand by and let her lie like that?" he guessed.

She nodded. "She—she may have been a liar but she didn't deserve to have the whole school turned against her either. I gave her a chance. She decided to take it."

Adrien took a deep breath, nodding as he exhaled. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me."

"Because I didn't want to seem like a jealous bitch trying to chase away a girl that got close to you, okay?" she blurted out. "Not like—like..."

"Chloe?" he guessed.

She nodded. "But most importantly, I wanted you to have the chance to make your own judgments of her. I'm not sorry for what I did. ...But I would understand if you didn't want to be my friend anymore." She added softly and hugged her chest.

Adrien was quiet once again and Marinette was afraid that he would go. That she'd ruined their friendship along with any chance she ever may have had with him. It hurt her heart but she would not allow herself to cry, not yet.

"Marinette...today has been...weird and crazy and my head hurts," Adrien told her. "But you're my friend. One of the first I ever had." He smiled at her like he did that day in the rain and her heart fluttered. "The way I see it: Lila was trying to ruin that. If I walked away because of this then she still wins. Call me whatever you want for saying this, but after today," his voice hardened, "I _really_ don't want that to happen."

* * *

It didn't.


	10. Dix

Kwami had ways of communicating with each other, even over a distance. There were limits to how far apart they could be, a distance which was greatly reduced when the kwami who were communicating were not part of the same pair, and it was very limited compared to what could be achieved face-to-face.

Tikki and Plagg used it on occasion to check in on each other, make sure they were okay while their hosts maintained their distance from each other. It was always difficult when their hosts lived apart but they knew it would only be a few years compared to the decades they would spend together afterwards.

It had been many years since either of them had communicated with a kwami outside their pair. The last time it happened was the distress cry from Kaoss that they had readily answered. Since then, nothing. Every time they went somewhere new they would reach out in hopes that one of the others was close enough to hear and respond, but no such luck.

But the night that Ladybug and Chat Noir faced off against Volpina, they received a message from the one they had given up trying to reach decades ago: Nurru.

It was a simple message, practically a taunt. An invitation, a location, and a swear on his conduit that they would be under a truce.

They considered it alone and together. The risks were great but the prospect of speaking with him after so long was too tempting to pass up. So a few hours later when their hosts were asleep, they slipped out into the night.

* * *

Plagg and Tikki nuzzled each other in greeting and then each twined one of their antenna around the other's in a show of solidarity. Then they settled down to wait.

Nurru arrived only a few minutes later. They had felt him coming. He carried a distorted aura with him now that was unlike anything they had ever felt, though not unlike the one Papillon had given off the last time they had been in his presence. Nurru had, for lack of a better word, changed. His skin, which had once been a healthy shade of purple, was now pale like faded watercolors. His eyes, too, had lost their shine. His entire body was cloaked in a vague, rippling shadow.

The two kwami rose into the air and scowled at him.

He looked between them blankly for a moment…and then he grinned. It wasn't entirely without humor but it was altogether malicious and quite disturbing. "Plagg, Tikki, how nice of you to come."

"Nurru," Tikki greeted stiffly.

"You've got some nerve!" Plagg snarled. "First you would give a mortal an imitation of _my_ Miraculous and now you dare do the same to Firra? She has no part of this!"

Nurru shrugged. "I care not. He gave the girl what she needed."

"You've violated something sacred twice and for what?!"

"Sacred? What would you know of sacred?" the butterfly kwami sneered.

Plagg started to protest but Tikki hushed him with a paw in front of his mouth. "Nurru," she said softly. "Why are you doing this?"

The corrupted kwami's eyes flashed. "You know why!"

Tikki shook her head. "It wasn't their fault. There was nothing they could have done to save either of them. It was ill fate and nothing more."

"I don't accept that!" he spat. "I will never accept that!"

"Believe what you want, then, but it's over! There is no one left living for you to blame. Ariadna and Phillip are dead; these children have done nothing wrong." Tikki floated forward but her antenna, still twined with Plagg's, kept her from going far. "Let's end this. It's not too late to leave. We unders—no, we recognize that you're in pain. A hundred years is a long time to suffer."

"One hundred and seven years, nine months, thirteen days, eleven hours, 18 minutes, 36 seconds," Nurru deadpanned. "And I have been aware of _every. Single. One._ I am Order, it is impossible for me to not know the time that has passed since the balance was broken and our order was lost, and I will continue to be aware of it for the rest of my eternity."

"Nurru," Tikki murmured woefully and even Plagg seemed solemn. "I am so sorry."

He considered them for a moment and then remarked, "Not yet you're not."

"I have been sorry from the moment she died!" she objected. "We _both_ have. We would bring her back for you if we could but she's gone. Vengeance won't bring her back."

He shrugged. "It's all I have. All we have. He suffers without Libelle. I suffer without Kaoss. You all will suffer with us."

"It's not too late," Tikki repeated. "If you end this now, if you go and leave us be, this doesn't have to end in more death."

"Oh, Tikki, do you really believe the others would let me live for what I've done?" Nurru smiled condescendingly. "I have allowed my host to abandon his duties. I have allowed him to use his powers for wrong. I myself have been corrupted by the very darkness I lost Kaoss to." He held up his paw for examination, or perhaps he was looking at the corruption swirling around it. Then he laughed hollowly. "If you or yours don't do it, the others will. I suspect Neccro will want to do the honors herself."

Tikki had nothing to say to that. It was true.

"How exactly is all of this supposed to help you?" Plagg demanded. "Kaoss has been dead for—for…"

"One hundred and seven years, nine months, thirteen days, eleven hours, 20 minutes, 3 seconds. Of hell."

"Yes and you're no better now than you were one hundred and seven years ago. This inane quest for vengeance has cost two Guardian lives and countless mortal ones! How can you justify all the pain you've caused? You're _selfish_ ," the kwami of Destruction declared. "The hell you live in is one of your own making."

"You know _nothing_ ," Nurru growled. "But that will change soon."

Plagg's eyes flipped wide and then he let out a loud screech at the threat. He unwound his antenna from his counterpart's and zipped in front of her, arching his back in a defensive display like that of his chosen animal.

Nurru looked him up and down with mild interest. "Ever wonder what would happen if we were to fight? Do you think our hosts would feel it?" Neither of the other kwami responded and his expression turned thoughtful. "Mine knows I came to speak with you but do yours? Or did you sneak away while they slept? I wonder if your pain would wake them."

Plagg snarled again and his body began to glow with purple energy.

"We're under a truce," Tikki interrupted sharply. "You _swore_ on your conduit, Order."

"I didn't," Plagg rumbled.

"And so I did, Creation," Nurru agreed. "But if he strikes me, I will strike back."

"Plagg," she warned. After a moment, the glow faded from his body but his defensive position remained. "Why did you call us here, Nurru?"

"I wanted to see if you'd really come. If you'd really honor a call from another kwami. After all, you've abandoned all your other duties, just as I have."

"And who's fault is that?" Plagg demanded.

Nurru shrugged. "I also wondered if you'd told them yet. …Do they even know why they're fighting the Butterfly?" He looked between them but neither of them responded. He turned away, wings quivering. "…Do you mean to tell me that _you didn't even tell them about us?_ About Kaoss?! Libelle?!"

"Of course not, you fool!" The catlike kwami snapped. "They haven't even begun to change yet!"

"Let's keep it that way," Tikki interjected. "Nurru, please, they're just children."

The corrupted kwami smiled almost lazily at her over his shoulder. "Are you going to beg, Tikki? The great Creation resorting to begging?"

Tikki's tail quivered but her expression remained firm. " _Children_ ," she repeated. "They have done nothing, they know nothing."

"New Guardians have always inherited the burdens of their predecessors and so it will continue to be." Nurru turned around once more. "The children will die and so will the next, on and on, for however long it takes."

"Until what?!" Tikki and Plagg demanded together.

"Until you have suffered as we have!" Nurru drifted towards them and Plagg hissed again. "Until one of you has felt the sting of death and the other knows this hell that I spend every second of my life in. Until your chosen know the same, be it those you have now, or five hundred years from now. **THEN** , and only then, will we be satisfied."

Both kwami were shocked speechless.

"If you want this to end, then bring us your Miraculous and we will make it quick. Either you will deliver them to us or we will take them; either way, this ends the same."

Tikki shook her head and reached for Plagg's paw, pulling him upright. "Let's go," she said briskly. "Do not call to us again. You are a demon wearing the body of a kwami."

"You cannot run forever," Nurru warned them. "Sooner or later, this _will_ end. It's up to you how many die in the interim."

They ignored him and flew away.

"You know, we've often discussed which one of you will be the one to die," he said loudly, almost casually. They continued to ignore him. "He wants it to be Tikki. He thinks it's fair that way. Female for female. But me…I want you to be left alive, Tikki."

Tikki froze mid-air and whipped around, eyes narrowed.

"After all, you and I are akin. Creation, Order. Destruction, Chaos. Seems only fitting to me. You will know my pain…then we can die together."

She stared him down for a long minute. Plagg floated behind her with a scowl on his face and seemingly unbothered by the fact that he'd been marked for death.

Finally, Tikki spoke. "If you take him from me…then for your sake, you better kill me quickly. Or my last act will be to see to it that you never know the release of death."

* * *

Adrien did not awaken when Plagg slipped back into his room and snuggled up next to his head. He was grateful. After that, he wasn't sure he could lie to him tonight.

Marinette stirred when Tikki curled up on her stomach and nuzzled her. She opened her eyes blearily and mumbled her kwami's name. "Shhh," the tiny god soothed. "It's alright. You're safe Go back to sleep."

* * *

 **Well, that happened.**

 **I know his name is technically spelt "Nooroo" but 1) I hate that and 2) my AU; my rules.**

 **Feel free to come chat on tumblr! :) My url is wintermoth.**


	11. Onze

Ladybug inhaled slowly through her nose, savoring the warm night air. Her first year as a Guardian was drawing to a close, as well as Chat Noir's. They were no closer to stopping Papillon now than they were when he first appeared. They had grown closer, though, and stronger together. That had to count for something.

Sometimes she marveled at how in sync they were. They had fumbled in the beginning but quickly fell into a rhythm that only improved over time. They weren't telepathic but, damn, did it seem that way sometimes. It was strange how two people who hid so much of themselves from each other could be so in tune. He knew her moods, she knew his. He knew how to make her smile; she knew how to make him laugh. He fought to protect her as she worked, she was there to catch him when he fell.

She did not know what he did during the day. Did not know his friends and had no idea what he chose to fill his hours with now that school was out, but his nights belonged to her. To them. They spent so many of them together. The official excuse was patrolling but neither of them believed that anymore. They were in it for the fun, for the thrill, and each other. They ran, they played, they stood watch, they spoke, sometimes even drifting off together until one of them inevitably awoke and they went their separate ways.

It was the best summer of her life.

* * *

Of all four houses available to hang out in, Alya and Nino preferred Adrien's. His room alone contained enough to entertain them all for hours on end and the food was great. He preferred it when they were around, too. With his friend's presence, the chill of the house dissipated. The staff enjoyed having so many children around, especially since they didn't make a mess and on the rare occasion they did, they quickly scrambled to clean it up themselves. Adrien smiled, _laughed_. When the kids came around, the chef seemed to 'misplace' Adrien's dietary restrictions list. Of course, when they were gone, or when Gabriel was home, things went back to normal.

Adrien preferred Marinette's house. (She wouldn't find out until years later, but during that summer, her home became one of his favorite places in the world.) It was nothing compared to his in size or grandeur, but it was warm, lived-in, and fun.

Once her parents found out that Adrien almost never got anything sweet, they had taken it upon themselves to feed him every time he walked through their doors. No matter what the reason. He had started feeling guilty about it halfway through July and asked if he could help out around the bakery. When her parents tried to dismiss his concerns he had insisted that he'd feel better about accepting the food if he had done something to earn it.

("Keep him," Sabine told her daughter.

" _Maman_!")

So, they let him. Initially it had been hilarious watching him adapt to the chaos that came with the territory and she couldn't help but laugh at the kicked-puppy expression he wore when he burned his first batch of cookies, but he had learned from his mistake. Marinette loved having him around and she got to see a side of him that rarely came out around other people. He was playful and happy, he watched her papa work with wide, intent eyes and even if he couldn't mimic what he was shown, he always absorbed everything he was taught.

Sometimes when his bodyguard, whom Adrien always playfully referred to as Gorilla, came inside to remind him they had somewhere to be, Adrien would present whatever he'd been working on for him to try. Marinette had been surprised to see pride in the large man's eyes. She wondered what it must be like to be responsible for someone else like that, especially when that someone was a sweet kid like Adrien who most definitely did not get the parental attention he should. She wondered if Gorilla intentionally got into conversations with her father just so Adrien could linger in the bakery a few minutes longer.

* * *

There was a moment, as Adrien watched her demonstrate how to fill pastries with chocolate, that he realized he could love her. It was such an insignificant moment, really. She hadn't looked at him, smiled, or anything to really prompt this epiphany. She went silent as she focused on her task for a few short seconds and it just… _hit_ him.

He could love Marinette. She was a wonderful person, they got along so well, she had welcomed him into her home without hesitation, and, of course, she was very pretty. Loving her would be so easy. If she would have him, they would probably do well together. They could be happy.

He could, but he wouldn't. His heart belonged to his Lady, his partner. Her friend. They would be together for the rest of their lives. Once they defeated Papillon, according to Plagg, it would be a matter of time before they were needed somewhere else. They were likely to have a few years in the interim but there would come a day where they would have to leave Paris or wherever they'd made their home and head off to fight again. He could not drag Marinette through that. She had dreams and plans and she couldn't be tethered to him to do them.

It wouldn't be right, either. From what Plagg had described—the powers, the immunities, the strength, speed, and agility—Adrien was on his way to becoming something akin to demigod. In time, he would not even need to be transformed to be formidable. Marinette was just a girl, not quite an outsider, but an ordinary girl all the same. They could never be equals.

That just wouldn't be fair to her.

* * *

"I'm scared," Adrien admitted one afternoon in August while he, Alya, and Marinette ate gelato in the park. He'd ditched his bodyguard and the three of them had decided to ruin his diet again. Nino would've come if he'd been able, though Alya told him what they were up to and he replied with a text that said: _#YOLO_.

Marinette couldn't agree more. Fight the system.

"How come?" Alya asked.

Adrien swallowed the gelato in his mouth. "I'll have to make new friends. I'm not good at that."

Marinette frowned. It was true. In the entire year he'd spent in school with them, he'd only really grown close to herself, Alya, and Nino. "You know we'd come with you in a heartbeat if we could, right?"

Adrien smiled at her. "Thanks. I really wish you could."

They ate in silence for a few seconds.

"It's not like we won't see you!" Alya pointed out. "We can come over or you can come over. We can meet up and hang out. There's social media, too. Ooh, maybe you could help me scope out akuma battles! Maybe you could see Ladybug," she added, wheedling. "Don't think Nino didn't tell me about the eyes you two were making at each other that one time."

Marinette let out a squeak that was mostly drowned out by Adrien's coughing. He mumbled something that sounded like, "Traitor." Alya roared with laughter.

Marinette recovered first. "She has a point. You can always hang out with us. Say the word and I will blow up your phone or rescue you with cookies."

Adrien smiled again. "Thanks but…it's not only that."

"What, then?" Alya asked.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Honestly? …I'm afraid people are going to treat me like a celebrity and not like…a person. You saw what happened to me on the first day, right? And…" his voice dropped to a murmur, "Lila. There will be others like her."

Marinette really wished there was some way she could reassure him but the truth was, he was probably right. People would see him as a model and rich boy first and a person second. Some kids would try to use him to their advantage. Other girls might try to date him for his money and looks and not for the boy underneath. It was completely unfair but she knew why his dad would insist on a school like this for him. She supposed they should consider themselves lucky that he hadn't been sent to a boarding school.

Alya launched into a speech about what he could do to prepare or counter such actions. With nothing else to do, Marinette leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.

* * *

Near the end of August, Adrien received a surprise guest. He came back to his room after eating dinner, anticipating nothing more exciting that night than potential Ladyblog updates, to find _Ladybug herself_ sitting on his couch.

Adrien gasped and Plagg immediately vacated the premises by way of the wall behind Adrien's back. He sent silent, relieved thanks towards his kwami. Ladybug looked up at him and smiled politely. Why was she here?! Was something wrong? Was he in danger? …Did she _know_?

"Adrien," Ladybug greeted. "Sorry for intruding but I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to be seen lingering around your house. The window was open," she added with a faint blush on her cheeks and gestured to the open panel in his wall of windows.

"I—It's fine," he stammered with a fervent glance at his computer. Had he left the Ladyblog up? _Note to self: do NOT bump the mouse._ "Um, n-not to be rude but, uh, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the one being rude." She rose to her feet and ducked her head apologetically. "I won't be long. I'm here on behalf of our mutual friend."

 _Marinette._ Adrien sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. "Is she okay?!"

Ladybug nodded quickly though she seemed surprised at his reaction. "She's fine! She's just concerned about you and, well, she doesn't know I'm here. …You're starting a new school in a few weeks, yes?"

Adrien walked towards the couch. "Yeah. School Lois le Grande."

"Ooh, fancy." She smiled slyly. "Beauty _and_ brains?"

There was only the couch between them now but he did not try to go around it. He felt like she would run if he did. This was so surreal that he was sure the slightest thing could ruin it.

He nodded and on the inside he was screaming.

She seemed to have realized what she'd said because he cheeks flamed. "Anyway!" she said quickly. "Marinette said, well, she didn't _say_ , but the impression I got was that she's worried because you're worried people are going to try and use you. Something about you not being good at telling people no?"

She was rambling. She rambled! Oh my god—wait. Marinette had spoken about him? To _Ladybug_?

His shock must have shown because she hastened to reassure him, "She doesn't know I'm here. I'm just concerned, too, even though I don't have the full story. But I…I haven't forgotten that business with Lila."

He cocked his head to the side.

"Marinette explained what everything in the park had been about. On top of everything else, the girl was trying to use you. I know what it feels like…and it's not something anyone deserves."

"It sucks," he agreed and was a little relieved to know there was _someone_ who understood.

Ladybug nodded. "Yep. …But you shouldn't let that stop you from forming friendships and letting people in."

"I know."

"Good." She smiled. "And…if you ever think someone is trying to use you that way…let Marinette know. She'll tell me and I can rescue you."

He blinked rapidly for a moment. "Rescue me? What does that mean?"

"Whatever you want me to do. It's up to you. Well, within reason." She smiled. "I do have an image to uphold. Any time over the next few years, if you need help, I'll be there. Okay?"

He wondered if she had any idea. Did she have even an inkling of who it was she was offering to help? Did she feel the need to protect him even now? Would telling her the truth make it better or worse? He would never know. "I…thank you. You have no idea what that means to me."

* * *

The next night while they raced together across the rooftops that belonged to them and them alone, Chat Noir had to try very hard not to kiss her senseless.

He succeeded, somehow.


	12. Douze

Marinette spent much of her first day of lycée worried about how Adrien was doing.

Adrien spent his first day at school wishing his friends were with him.

The four friends met up at a café after school where Adrien bemoaned his fame and lack of social skills. Apparently girls were already making eyes at him and he'd been asked for his autograph no less than six times before lunch. Nino suggested he carry around business cards with his autograph on them and just hand them out. Alya found him three websites where he could get these cards on the cheap.

"Just say the word, Adrien," Marinette reminded him quietly. "I'll tell her." He looked up at her for a moment with an unreadable expression and then smiled.

"Tell who what?" Alya asked and the moment was over.

* * *

At 10:20am on their second day of school, Alix got a text from a former classmate of theirs, Mireille. She attended the same private catholic school Lila now did and she had some news. Alix told Alya, who then told everyone else, and at lunch all the former members of their class who attended their lycée—everyone but Chloe, Sabrina, Max, and Ivan—to meet in the courtyard, where she would tell them about 'the bullshit going on with Lila'.

"What's going on?" Mylène asked when they were all gathered. "What did she do?"

Alix laughed sardonically. "You're going to _love_ this. Apparently she made out with Adrien Agreste and he asked her to be a model in one of the ad campaigns he was in over the summer."

Silence. Everyone looked at each other in shock.

"Wow."

"Dude."

"Seriously?"

"Oh God. Did she _really_?" Mylène asked.

"NO!" Alya and Nino shouted at once, startling everyone, including each other. Everyone except Marinette. All eyes turned to the petite designer who was seething with rage.

"That lying little _pest_ ," Marinette hissed between her teeth.

"I'd call her a bitch myself," Alix remarked. "But you do you."

"She is _not_ doing this to him again!" she snapped and she stormed away, leaving Alya to explain what exactly Lila had done earlier in the year.

* * *

Adrien was not in the least bit pleased to learn of this development when he met Marinette for lunch ten minutes later. Marinette felt a surge of protection at the look of utter betrayal on his face. He'd been _kind_ to Lila. He hadn't confronted her after she'd lied to him about Marinette, had never said a word against her to anyone. He hadn't sought her out afterwards but neither had she. And now this.

He'd been so worried about people at his new school trying to use him that he hadn't even considered someone from his old one would be the one to do it.

* * *

"Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"I…you know I would never use you like Lila is, right? I mean it. Even years from now when I'm trying to get into the fashion industry, I won't ever use you or your name to win favors or get ahead. And I'm not just your friend because I want something from you." _Although I would very much like you to kiss me, maybe date me._ "And neither are Alya and Nino."

"I know. And I don't know if you know exactly what that means to me…but thank you."

"…Would you like me to tell my friend what happened?"

"I…no. I appreciate it but I think having her around might just make it worse."

* * *

As much as she wanted to descend on Lila with the full wrath of Ladybug, Marinette knew it wasn't her place. She had no claim on Adrien, no reason to go against his wishes. And he was right: it would be bad if Ladybug swooped in to scold Lila for anything short of what she had in June. It could call into question Ladybug's identity, or worse, put Adrien in the line of fire if Papillon believed there was a connection between them. So she held herself back and prayed that none of the gossip rags got word of this.

If anything was printed about the two of them having been a couple, though, all bets were off.

Even Chat noticed she was on edge the night they met for patrol but she couldn't tell him why. She hated the way it made him anxious—it was there in the droop of his ears, the erratic twitches of his tail, the tightness of his jaw. Finally, she had to reassure him that the source of her distress was not placing her in any danger. It helped but he wasn't satisfied with her answer.

Relief came on the second week of school.

Adrien had been in the mood for pie so he'd opted to spend some of his afternoon free time working in the bakery. He was in the back watching her father frost a cake and Marinette was on register duty while her mother ran errands. Then, by the grace of God, the kwami, or some other deity, Lila walked in with a group of girls their age. One of them Marinette recognized as a regular customer but the other two were unfamiliar.

Lila's eyes immediately locked with hers and there was a flash of panic on her face. Marinette smirked.

"Oh. Hey, Lila," she said loudly and Adrien's voice trailed off in the kitchen.

"Ooh, do you two know each other?" the regular girl, a brunette about as tall as Alix, asked Lila.

Lila didn't miss a beat. "We went to collège together last year."

One of the other girls gasped, her eyes fixed on something behind Marinette. Or, rather, _someone._

Marinette glanced over her shoulder to see Adrien standing in the doorway. He'd taken off his hairnet but the apron he wore was stained with remnants of icing, fondant, and batter, and there was a streak of the purple buttercream her father was using on his cheek. He held a small display tray of cookies in his hands and she frowned suspiciously. The cookies in the display case had only just been put in about twenty minutes ago and were meant to last for the rest of the day. Those were leftovers. What was he doing?

Marinette turned around. The girl who'd gasped was completely starry-eyed, the other two looked like they were ready for the drama to begin, their eyes flicking between Adrien, Lila, and Marinette. Lila…well, Lila looked like a deer in headlights.

"H-hey, Adrien," she stammered. "How are you?"

Adrien cocked his head to the side. " _Est-ce que je vous connais_?" he asked politely.

 _Do I know you?_

Marinette was glad she wasn't facing their customers because she had to puff out her cheeks to hold in her laughter. She caught Adrien's eye but his innocent expression did not waver. Glancing over her shoulder again, she saw that three other girls were either staring at Lila or Adrien in shock. Lila herself seemed mortified.

"Adrien, this is Lila," Marinette explained patiently. "She went to school with us, remember?"

Adrien considered her as he set the cookies on top of the counter. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! How was your summer?"

"Fine," Lila whispered.

* * *

Marinette darted into the kitchen the moment the door shut behind the girls. Adrien was sitting on the floor by Tom's feet with his face in his hands.

"OH MY GOD ADRIEN!"

"I can't believe I just did that."

"Me either! That was—oh MY GOD HER FACE!"

Tom shook his head at both of them. "What did you do?"

"One of the customers just now was a girl who went to collège with us for a few months lied at her new school and said she and Adrien had made out a bunch," Marinette explained in a rush. "And that he asked her to model with him, or something."

"Now why would she do something like that?"

"Beats me," Adrien grumbled. "I was nice to her."

"She lied from the start at school, Papa," Marinette explained. "To everyone. Just because she wanted to make friends."

He hummed thoughtfully and set down the icing bag. Wiping his hands on his apron, he turned around. "That doesn't seem like a very good way to make friends. What happened when you found out she was lying?"

"Marinette figured it out pretty quickly," Adrien admitted. "I didn't."

"You didn't tell him?" Tom asked in surprise.

"Not at first," Marinette admitted.

"I was nice to her," Adrien went on. "I tried to be her friend but I could tell there was something wrong."

"Me and Alya didn't like her."

"And Chloe didn't either," Adrien added.

"But that's Chloe."

The corner of his lip twitched upwards but then he sighed. "Lila tried to tell me over the summer that Marinette did something really bad so I wouldn't be friends with her anymore. Just to get me to like her, I guess." He shrugged.

Tom frowned in the direction of the doorway.

"And now she's telling everyone at her school that they made out and a bunch of other stuff." Marinette said bitterly.

"If my father hears, I could be in so much trouble." Adrien fussed. "Doesn't matter if it happened or not, I'd probably get lectured about upholding my image and the family name."

Tom's expression darkened at Adrien's words but he didn't comment. Marinette got the feeling her dad didn't like his dad all too much—not that she blamed him. "You can't blame yourself for other people's actions," he told him gently. "And your father should realize that. If he doesn't, that's not your fault."

Adrien looked uncertain for a moment like he always did when her dad was fatherly towards him. Like he didn't quite know what to do with it. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his face. "Thanks, Monsieur Dupain."

Tom smiled back at him. "Of course. Now, what exactly did you do out there?"

* * *

"Are you freaking KIDDING ME?!" Plagg howled when the news showed Volpina and Ladybug duking it out near the Notre Dame three days later.

"Awww, crap, crap, CRAP. Plagg _, transformer-moi!_ "

"I AM GONNA MAIM THAT INOSLENT LITTLE—" the kwami yowled as he disappeared into the ring.

His suit flowed across his skin and with it came anger he was sure was not his own. It was deep and boiling hot, full of righteous indignation and spite. His hands curled, claws flexing, and a snarl bubbled its way up from his throat.

…So that was what it like to transform when your kwami was angry.

* * *

 **Fun fact about French for those of you who don't speak it: French has two forms of 'you', like Spanish. Tu and vous. Tu being informal and vous being formal.  
**

 **Given that they're both children (and, lol, that she and Adrien were supposed to have been intimate over the summer), no matter what he said to Lila, he should've been using the 'tu' form. By using 'vous' he put a distance between them that the same sentence in English ("Do I know you?") doesn't quite carry. So not only did he pretend to not know her, but he put a respectful distance between them in one go. _Just thought I'd share, so you'd understand why I went ahead and put it in French. ^-^_  
**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. Url is wintermoth!  
**


	13. Treize

Volpina was pissed, Ladybug was pissed, and both of them were trying to take each other's heads off. Ladybug really wanted to know what she'd done to set Lila off _this_ time. She hadn't even seen the girl (at least while she was transformed) since last time!

"This has nothing to do with you, Ladybug!" Volpina snarled, knocking away Ladybug's yo-yo with her flute.

"This has everything to do with me!" Ladybug objected. Her yo-yo snapped back into place and she lifted her arm to throw it again.

"Oh, get over yourself!"

She hesitated and blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"

Volpina rolled her eyes. "Honestly, not everything is about _you_. This is between me and Adrien Agreste, so butt out."

" _What_?"

* * *

"Sooo," Chat drawled, falling in-step with Ladybug as she sprinted across the rooftops after Volpina. "What did the fox say this time?"

"I had nothing to do with this!" Ladybug protested. "I was…" she paused to leap over a chimney. "…out shopping and then all of a sudden: Volpina! Pure coincidence, I swear."

"Okay, fine, I believe you." He leaped over a parapet. "But then what's got her tail in a twist?"

"She said she's after Adrien but she took off before I could find out more."

He frowned in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"That's what I said!"

"What did he do?!"

"Apparently, he lied and she isn't very happy about it!"

Chat whipped his head around to gawk at her and ended up smacking into a chimney. He crumpled to the ground, winded, the side of his face stinging, but didn't even try and move. Rather, he decided to just lay there for a moment while he attempted to process the last ten seconds.

Ladybug landed on the offending chimney and shook her head at him, utterly unimpressed. "Nice," she deadpanned.

* * *

Of course, Adrien Agreste was most definitely _not_ at home when Volpina made her grand entrance to his room. By the time Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived, she had already created multiple duplicates of herself and was scouring the house for him. They found a Volpina in one of the hallways downstairs, demanding his whereabouts from the staff present and threatening them with a variety of intimidating weapons.

A quick swipe of Ladybug's yo-yo and those weapons were gone, leaving the two adults befuddled. Volpina growled at them, ears going flat, and ran into the nearest wall. She disappeared in a puff a smoke, surprising neither Guardian but eliciting a cry of shock from the cleaning lady.

"Where's Adrien?" Ladybug asked.

"We don't know!" the cook protested, rather annoyed. "For the last time."

The poor cleaning lady looked ready to faint. "His bodyguard should know. Or Nathalie."

* * *

They did not. In fact, Adrien's absence was news to them.

The Gorllia's eyes grew wide with horror when the Volpina duplicate insisted Adrien was not in his room. Without a word, he turned and raced down the hall, ignoring her sputtering cries for him to _get back here_! The duplicate rolled her eyes and walked into the wall.

The real Volpina, meanwhile, had cornered Nathalie in her office, and demanded to know where Adrien was. Nathalie was rather nonchalant in her response and didn't seem to care that there was a hostile akuma standing in front of her. She'd spent years working as the private secretary for a fashion mogul. It would take a lot more than someone in a mask throwing a tantrum to knock her off her game.

"I'm afraid his schedule is full for the day so you'll have to make an appointment for some time tomorrow," she replied briskly and began to smooth out the stack of papers in front of her

Volpina scoffed. "I'm not making an _appointment_! Do you even know who I _am_?"

"No, and I don't particularly care, either. Neither of the Agrestes have time to deal with you today and neither do I. So either make an appointment and come back tomorrow or don't come back at all."

Volpina slammed her hands on the desk. "NO! I will see him now! Where is he?! And before you say it—he's _not_ in his room." She put her hands on her hips. "Don't you think that was the first place I looked?"

All trace of emotion slid off of Nathalie's face and she stared blankly at the girl. Then her eyes widened. " ** _What do you mean he's not in his room_**?!"

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir followed the screaming. Oddly enough, it didn't seem panicked.

When they arrived at the source, they found Nathalie towering over Volpina, demanding to know what rooms she'd already searched, had she looked in his bathroom, was she sure he wasn't in the garden, had she tried calling his phone?

Chat Noir groaned quietly as he realized just how much trouble he was going to be in. Ladybug sighed, too, not at all envying Adrien whenever he turned up. She was curious as to where he was but considering he'd gone AWOL _before_ the akuma showed up, she wasn't too concerned. He was probably with Nino.

Volpina was so baffled by what was happening that she didn't even protest as Ladybug yanked the necklace from her neck and broke it.

* * *

Adrien was located six minutes later outside in the tree in their yard, scrolling through his phone and completely unaware that anything had happened. He managed to avoid getting in trouble because, technically, he hadn't left the property and he hadn't been grounded to his room or anything. But that didn't stop Nathalie from yelling at him. And he had to come inside and talk things out with Lila. She could not be blamed for her actions as an akuma but whatever had set her off had to do with him so, obviously, it needed to be hashed out.

Gabriel had been called immediately after Volpina returned to normal and they were under strict orders to wait for him to arrive home. When he did, he was furious in the worst way—calm, collected, eyes piercing between the two adolescents. "Start talking," he ordered. "Now."

There were tears and accusations from Lila, pleas for sympathy, and demands for apologies. Adrien had to use every single ounce of skill he had in his body to not roll his eyes or start laughing. When it was his turn, he looked up at his father and calmly informed him of what Lila had done over the past few months, including the tales she tried to tell about Marinette, and what exactly had happened in the bakery.

Lila was banned from the house.

* * *

"So, wait. You mean to tell me that _Volpina_ came to your house? As in…Lila?!"

"Yep."

"And she was pissed at you?!"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Apparently by pretending to not know her the other day, I really ruined her reputation at school."

"…Are you saying…that she's upset…because you lied about your relationship with her?"

"Yep."

* * *

 **And so Volpina was single-highhandedly defeated by Nathalie. Lbr, Gabriel probably gave her a raise for it.  
**

 **Wait. Was the second showdown with Volpina supposed to be epic? Whoopsie.**


	14. Quatorze

**Read carefully.**

* * *

At the end of September, Ladybug realized that her sense of smell was extraordinary. The improvements must have been gradual because the sudden acquisition of such a potent sense would've been quite a shock to her system. She hadn't noticed anything different when she'd transformed. But as she neared the akuma's area of she realized there was something sharp and potent in the air that she had no name for but made her want to turn tail and run. Only her sense of duty kept her going. The smell was strongest around the akuma but it wasn't coming from the akuma himself because he smelled like burning metal and gasoline and that was definitely not—

Wait. How did she _know_ what the akuma smelt like?

She knew Chat Noir was coming before arrived because she could smell him on the wind. She _knew_ that the scent was his—there weren't really words to describe it, no leather or cologne or whatever, just the scent of a human boy mixed with something distinctly feline and something else she couldn't put a name to. The oddity of this only occurred to her after the fact. How long had she been able to _smell_ him?

When the fight was over, Ladybug ignored their timers and dragged him away to somewhere secluded. She had to get to the bottom of this and the first step to make sure that it really was him she was smelling even though she already knew in her gut that he was.

Chat held perfectly still and watched with wide eyes as she circled, inhaling the air around him, then leaning in to sniff his arms, shoulders. He was too baffled to even make a joke about the situation but shock quickly gave way to offense.

"I get the point," he said between gritted teeth.

"No, no," she interrupted quickly. "It's not—I can _smell_ you."

He scowled.

"I can smell _you_ you. Not something on you—okay, well, I can tell you don't use scented shampoo—but I can smell _you_."

His jaw dropped. "Whoa, really? Since when?"

She threw her hands up in the air. "I have no idea?! I just realized today! I could smell…well, I don't know _what_ it was, but it was all around the area where the akuma was coming from but it wasn't the akuma."

Chat Noir's eyes widened. "Was it really sharp, bad, and made you wanna run with your tail between your legs?"

Ladybug nodded.

"That's fear," he told her. Her jaw dropped. "I've almost always been able to smell it in the air around akuma attacks and other places where a lot of people are panicking. While I'm in costume, at least."

"And the akuma smelt like burning metal."

He nodded. "Yep. Which makes sense since he was a mechanic." Then he cracked a grin and she braced herself for what she just _knew_ was coming. "I don't know if you noticed yet…" He leaned forward. "But you smell pawsitively wonderful, my lady."

She smirked. "You don't smell half bad yourself, kitty."

* * *

The moment they were safely in her room Marinette began to grill Tikki. Her kwami was not at all surprised about this new development, only that Marinette had taken this long to notice it. According to her, it had started at the end of July and had slowly been building over time.

"But…why?" Marinette asked. "What does this have to do with anything? I can understand Chat Noir being able to because of the whole _cat_ thing, but me?!"

"Ladybugs have remarkable senses of smell, actually, and so do I," Tikki told her and then did a cute little flip in the air. "Oooh! I'm so excited! It's happening!"

"What's happening?"

"Think it as…well, I guess, puberty for Guardians." Tikki spun around again. "It's the transitionary period between your fledgling days and becoming a fully realized Guardian. All those things I told you that would come in time, they're beginning now. If it's happening to you, then that means it'll happen to Chat Noir soon!"

Marinette had to remind herself to breathe. Her ears tingled around her Miraculous and she felt her heart start to race in anticipation.

"Which means it's time we gave you two a history lesson."

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat back to back in the middle of the empty apartment they had chosen for tonight. Hands clasped together at their sides, heads brushing, they silently braced themselves for what came next.

"You ready?" Chat murmured.

"Ready," she replied at the same volume.

"Three…two…one…"

Light filled the room as they released their transformations, green from him, pink from her, blending to form a bright white. Hard suits gave way to soft fabric and skin met skin for the first time. His hair shortened and hers fell around her shoulders as the hair ties from her suit disappeared. When the light faded, they were Adrien and Marinette, two friends and former classmates.

But neither of them knew that.

His skin was warm, Marinette noted. His suit had given way to soft fabric that she could feel against her bare shoulders. Why had she worn a tank top tonight? Feeling self-conscious, she reached up with her free hand to brush some of her hair out of her eyes.

Her hair tickled the back of his neck. Adrien sucked in a sharp breath when her hand twitched in his and he realized that he could feel her skin. His thump stroked the back of her hand without his permission. She was soft, smooth, just like he'd always thought. He leaned his head against hers.

"Hello, Ladybug," Plagg's voice greeted from the dark. The kwami's eyes glowed in front of Adrien's face but other than that, he was completely invisible.

"Hello," Marinette squeaked then cleared her throat. Adrien chuckled and she elbowed him.

"Hello Chat Noir," Tikki echoed. She, too, floated in front of her Chosen, visible only by the faint blue glow of her eyes.

"Hi," Adrien said quietly.

"What you're about to see is the true history of the world," Plagg began. "It's our history and yours."

"No mortal will ever see this," Tikki went on. "What you learn tonight can never be shared with anyone for the rest of your lives."

"You will live with it. You will die for it."

"It is our greatest secret and now it will be yours as well."

"Are you ready to learn?" the kwami asked together.

"We're ready," Adrien answered for them. Marinette only nodded.

Each kwami flew towards their respective host and pressed their foreheads together. At the moment of contact, light exploded in the Guardians' vision and when it settled, they were no longer in the apartment. No longer in Paris at all. They were somewhere empty and white, like a canvas or a space waiting to be filled. Tikki was nowhere to be seen.

Marinette tried to turn but found that she could not. Her partner's back remained against hers and his tight grip on her hand reassured her that no matter what she was experiencing, he was still with her.

* * *

 _Kwami have not always existed. We do not know what happened before us, only after._ Tikki and Plagg's voices said together in perfect harmony. They echoed around the space, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. _First came Time and Void._

Two black orbs appeared in the space, one glowing with a silver light and the other with white.

 _Then us: Creation and Destruction…._

Two more orbs appeared, the same size as the others, but these two seemed to be made of light themselves: one vivid red and the other a purple so deep it was almost black.

… _followed swiftly by Order and Chaos._ A lavender orb and a bright yellow orb.

 _They are our twins, in a sense,_ the kwami added after a moment. _We came first, but only just, and of all the others, we are the closest in nature._

 _Then came Life and Death._ A light green orb, a chocolaty brown orb.

 _And their twins: Light and Dark._ Brilliant gold and so bright it was almost painful; pitch black and without any noticeable glow.

 _The element twins: Earth and Air; Fire and Water._ Deep brown, bright blue; blazing orange, silvery green.

 _Blessing and Curse_. Bright yellow and magenta.

 _And then as sentient life came, Possibility and Memory were born._ Pale gray and dark gray. _And finally, Truth and Deceit._ Pure white and copper.

When they were finished, twenty orbs floated parallel to each other in the space, as if resting on a flat surface. Each was no bigger than a cantaloupe but they thrummed with immense power. Kwami in their purest forms.

 _We are all of us gods. Forget what faiths you may hold or truths you cling to about the nature of the world. We are the ones who made the world what it is. Perhaps there are more now, perhaps not. We do not know. It is impossible for us to reach them and they us. At this moment, there are thirteen of us in this world._

 _In the beginning, we had been cut off from this world, forced to watch it as if behind glass, influencing in our own ways, but unable to truly experience it. Never truly touching._

They were surrounded by dense trees, then they were on a beach of white sand with waves of blue crashing against the shoreline, then a rolling prairie, a tundra, snowy mountains. On and on it went, a montage of places on Earth long ago. Vivid in color and rich in detail, as if they were really there.

 _Such things would require a physical manifestation, a form. And over time, many of us began to desire what you would call life. We wanted to live in the world we had long been bound to._

 _The first pair to be completely set on going were Blessing and Curse, the kwami of Magic. With the help of Creation and Life, they created bodies based on those of two animals that roamed the Earth._

An image appeared beside the orbs. Two little bodies similar in size and shape to those of Plagg and Tikki. The first was yellow and black like a bee, the other deep pink and reptilian.

 _When the time came, almost every kwami was present to witness. Blessing and Curse went into their new bodies, taking with them all that they were._

The orbs representing Blessing and Curse flew towards the bodies.

 _But…we did not know. Truly, we were all foolish for not anticipating. Even now, an eon later, we still wonder at our own naivety. We are gods, children. We are so much more than you can understand. How could all of that hope to fit into a tiny body?_

The orbs disappeared into the bodies…and then exploded. It had no sound, only a flash of light infinitely brighter than the sun, and raw energy shot out from the epicenter. The two Guardians screamed inside their minds, both at the sight and at the white hot, stinging sensation that racked their bodies as the light passed through.

 _And so magic was unleashed on the Earth. Untethered, uncontained, uncontrolled. We had no way bring it back to us, no way to reform their consciousness's. They were gone and there was nothing we could do. …We were fools._

* * *

A tear slid down Marinette's cheek. Adrien's exhaled shakily through his teeth and gripped her hand tighter.

* * *

The scenes of earth faded. Eighteen orbs remained but none moved to fill the space left behind by the destroyed pair. The hole seemed to glare at them.

 _We abandoned our desires._

 _Magic remained on Earth. Over time, humankind rose up. We noticed after the first few generations of your species that some of you were being born with the potential to wield magic. It was as if bits of Blessing and Curse had begun to manifest in your species. Latent, of course, and it was a long time before the potential was strong enough to be effective, and even longer before people realized they could. Some of your earliest civilizations came to be thanks to magic._

Before them was a city by the sea full of tall, elegant buildings, magnificent spires that shown in the sunlight. Its roads were made from smooth, well-kept cobblestone. Canals flowed through the city, allowing small boats passage through. Horses pulled wagons and models of carriages neither teenager had even seen before. People dressed in green, blue, gray, and purple walked through the streets. Some had staves and staffs strapped to their backs or in their hands.

 _Atlantis was the first civilization to truly embrace and utilize magic. At first, Blessing's magic was the most common. People thrived with it, a profession was made for practitioners. However, once the potential of Curse's magic became realized, many began to seek and practice it. The fools did not understand the concept of balance. Atlantis began from magic and ended the same way. They orchestrated and carried out their own demise, blind to their own follies._

The city disappeared and in its place were ugly ruins. The fine cobblestones were cracked and upturned, the buildings scorched and broken. The canals had overflowed and the sea had risen higher, both slowly consuming the city.

Then it was gone.

 _Far too many sought Curse's power. Humanity began to realize that magic was dangerous and it was slowly becoming taboo. Blessing's power, which had always served humanity well, fell out of practice. Of course, those with ill intentions did not adhere to the rules of society and they were largely practitioners of Curse's power. Dark magic began to run rampant. It was almost as if Curse was becoming sentient again but without Blessing, there was no balance, no harmony. The discord was too great for us to ignore._

No scene appeared but instead they heard the screaming of thousands of voices in pain, afraid, furious, overlapping each other. Then they faded away.

 _And, so, we realized we had to do something. After all, it was our fault. There were…protests, initially. Some were adamantly against attempting to manifest again. It took time but eventually we created the system that we use today. This time, we knew what we were getting into. We understood the risks._

 _Life and Creation fashioned eighteen bodies based on an animal chosen by each god. We gave these bodies the mannerisms and certain physical characteristics of the model species to better experience life with. For us it was a red beetle and a black cat. It was in these bodies that we would place our consciousness and tiny fraction of our power. The rest of the power remained behind on our native plane, untouchable, inaccessible, except through our conduits._

In front of each orb, a small object appeared. Rings, bracelets, cuffs, earrings, headbands, circlets, brooches, necklaces, and combs. They all bore resemblance to an animal in some way or another, be it color or shape.

 _The forms have changed over the years to adapt to the times but this is how each conduit appears today._

 _They are, in essence, extensions of our bodies. Our bodies cannot exist on this plane without them, which is why we will die if they are destroyed. We knew when we manifested we would be ill-equipped to adequately protect our conduits, to contain Curse, and eliminate the threat of its magic. So, it fell to us to recruit those who could. How we choose is a conversation for another day._

 _But that is why you are called Guardians. You guard our conduits: the Miraculous._

 _You are the final link. The Miraculous draws our power from its source and it manifests through you. Enough time has passed that you have begun to experience physical changes as a result. Your bodies have been receiving…data, is a good word for it, we think. They receive data from us with every transformation and since our bodies are modeled after animals, traits of these animals' have manifested in you and will continue to do so. Right now they are limited to your transformations only._

 _One day you will find that you can use some of your powers when not transformed, just as we can, but we are only ever at our true potential when transformed. It is through our symbiotic relationship that we are able to fulfill the duty for which we came. We think it's appropriate. It was through both our follies that the world got into this mess and it is through our combined efforts that it will be contained._

* * *

Marinette and Adrien opened their eyes. They were back in the dark apartment. She sucked sucked in a sharp breath of air through her nose and he inhaled shakily through his mouth. They simultaneously realized how exhausted and sore they were and they sagged against each other.

"That was…" Marinette whispered. She had no words.

"Is that it?" Adrien croaked.

"Of course not," Plagg replied. "But we're not just going to give you _everything_ at once. Where's the fun in that?"

Tikki sighed. "What Plagg means is that you need time to process. After tonight, you're on your way to becoming full-fledged Guardians. We'll teach you more in due time. But for now, you two need sleep. You were in the trance for over an hour."

Marinette jolted in surprise. "An hour?" It hadn't felt that long but it certainly explained the stiffness in her body.

"And I need cheese," Plagg insisted.

Adrien sighed and squeezed her hand. "That's my cue. _Transformer-moi!_ " She echoed the command under her breath. Their kwami disappeared into their Miraculous— _conduits_ , Marinette thought—and their suits rippled across their skin.

Knowing now what they did, the transformation seemed…different. Before what they had simply accepted as part of the package now held significance. The kwami didn't just provide the suits…in a way, they _were_ the suits. Their powers and abilities were those of gods. What did that make them? Demigods?

Chat Noir turned, his hand still curled around Ladybug's, and lifted it to his lips. "My lady," he said softly, eyes glowing in the gloom, and pressed a kiss to it. "I'll see you soon."

She reached up and tapped him on the nose gently. "Soon," she agreed.

* * *

 **WHOO DID I LOSE ANYONE BACK THERE? No? Good.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. You'll know when I'm about to post ;) Url is wintermoth. Also, if you want to tag anything about this story on tumblr (even if it's just a text post) please use "ML Guardians AU" so I can see!**


	15. Quinze

Ladybug's newfound sense of smell served to be a source of entertainment for both of them. During the nights when they met up for patrolling, he would guide her through how to distinguish an individual scent from the masses, how to identify everyday scents—vehicles, bread, fruits and vegetables, people, animals—and how to track a scent to the source. It was during one such lesson that Marinette learned what Alya smelled like, her friend having followed them one evening looking to score an interview.

As Marinette, however, her nose worked the same it always had. Chat Noir told her it was the same for him when he was out of the suit. She supposed that was a good thing. She knew that she could easily smell the bakery from her room and that would be torture if she had to deal with that full time, especially if she was hungry.

Hunting games quickly became their favorite. Sometimes they would see who could find the source of a scent first. Other times one of them would attempt to track the other down using scent alone. It was a nice break from their stressful lives and it was something fun to do while prowling Paris.

* * *

 _We never had names before becoming corporeal. We simply were what we were. Creation and Destruction. Those are our true names but languages have different words for our concepts and we quickly realized that having names that would not change from language to language was best._

"How did you choose names?" Adrien asked.

 _Well, originally, it seemed we were going to all just name ourselves._

 _I wanted to take the name of my first Guardian,_ Tikki's voice said alone.

 _Many of us did,_ Plagg said.

 _But Order wanted us to have uniformity,_ they continued together. _We knew it was pointless to argue. Possibilities and Memories gave us all names with two syllabus. In the Latin alphabet there are even more similarities but Latin did not exist at the time we chose our names so, truly, it had no influence until after its creation when we decided to come up with spellings in this new alphabet which was growing in influence._

 _In time, we will teach you all of their names and the animals they chose._

* * *

It was right around mid-October that the two Guardians began to notice changes in their appetites.

Adrien started craving fish. He could not understand his sudden interest in it, neither could anyone else, but he received no objections when he requested more fish in his diet. From shrimp to cod, he didn't care, he wanted it. He drew the line at things like eel and octopus, his own personal feelings making him squeamish.

Plagg didn't seem too bothered. In fact, the time Adrien bemoaned his new craving aloud, the kwami remarked, "Right on schedule." And went back to eating cheese.

Marinette didn't realize anything was going on until one night when Chat Noir brought her flowers. There was no reason for it, other than that he'd seen them and thought of her. She was touched by the gesture although she displayed what she thought was an adequate amount of annoyance considering she had turned down a flower from him only a few months ago.

She leaned down to sniff them and was surprised at how delicious they smelled. Without thinking, she took a bite out of one. Chat was too shocked to even protest as his present was consumed. Ladybug finished off the flower and then let out an 'eep!' when she realized what she'd done. The Guardians stared at each other for a moment.

"If it makes you feel any better," Chat said, "I can't stop eating fish."

"I am so sorry! I didn't—I don't—"

"Go on and eat them, I really don't mind."

"…You sure?" she asked in a tiny voice.

" _Bon appétit_ , my lady."

It was bizarre to watch as she chomped away at the bouquet but she still somehow managed to be adorable. He made sure to bring her flowers more often after that.

* * *

 _As you know, in the beginning we were twenty._

All twenty orbs representing the kwami appeared in the space.

 _Blessing and Curse are on Earth but all that they are is now scattered. For this reason, we say they are no more._

Their orbs disappeared.

 _Time and Void did not come to Earth. Their powers are too strong, the risks associated with having bodies and conduits were too great. They remain in our realm as themselves, waiting for a time when Curse becomes too great for us to manage. Then and only then will they manifest. When we feel them arrive, we will know we are nearing the potential end of days. Hopefully it will not be for many thousands of years._

Their orbs disappeared.

"Okay, I can understand why they would choose to stay behind, but what about Life and Death?" Marinette asked.

"It seems a bit…dangerous to have people with powers like that." Adrien agreed.

 _So says the boy who can destroy with a single touch. But, yes, we know. That is why they alone do not share the same responsibilities as the rest of us. Their sworn duty is to protect the bodies of Time and Void until the day comes that they are needed. They do not fight. Beyond that, we do not know what they fill their daily lives with._

"Okay, go on."

 _Sixteen of us came to Earth. Eight pairs. …In the years since, three have been lost. Their conduits destroyed or abused. The first to die was Ranné: Water. It was from her death that we confirmed a long-suspected facet of the conduits. Hers was stolen, its power abused. That has happened to others as well but the thief did not heed her warnings and attempted to transform. She died._

The silvery green orb disappeared.

 _After her went Amaat: Truth. His conduit was infected by Curse's magic and had to be destroyed._

"What?!" they both yelped.

 _Letting him live like that would have been a cruelty. We were not there but Firra said he was no longer himself. His death was a mercy._

"That's terrible…" Marinette whispered.

 _It is…but don't cry. It was long ago. But a mere century ago, we lost Kaoss who, as we are sure you can guess, was Chaos. Her conduit was obliterated in battle…along with her host._

The softer of the bright yellow orbs disappeared.

 _And, thus, we are thirteen. Two of the surviving kwami still fulfil their duties to the best of their abilities. We've heard of times where they teamed up. Such mixes are volatile and lack balance. They do not work for long._

"What about the other one?" Adrien asked.

… _He lives, he suffers, he is beyond help._

* * *

It was their second Christmas together but the first that Ladybug felt comfortable exchanging gifts. She made him a bundle of cookies and a black cat doll. She admitted that both were handmade and Chat suddenly felt a little self-conscious about his own gift. He lacked the skill to make her anything and, so, had purchased both his gifts instead. The first was a bouquet of flowers, all of them handpicked by the woman at the flower shop for their appeal to ladybugs, and the second was a thick blanket made of a soft, fluffy black material he couldn't name but felt heavenly.

(And he hadn't discovered this by rubbing his face against it in the store. Nope.)

"To keep you warm," he told her, "when I can't."

The scoff and eye-roll he'd received were exactly what he'd anticipated but less than he'd hoped for. Nevertheless, he could tell when they met up for New Year's Eve from the scent of the blanket lingering around her (with traces of the shop from where he'd bought it as well as his room), that she at least put to use. Which was all well and good considering he slept with the black cat next to his pillow.

* * *

 _All Guardians are born with magical potential,_ the kwami explained to them. _One of the ingredients in each conduit is Blessing's power so, therefore, in order to use them, wielders must first have the innate ability to use magic. Not all humans do, even after so many thousands of years._

 _Right now, your powers come only from us and what we have in our bodies. You haven't been bonded to the Miraculous long enough yet to draw from the wellspring of power on the other side. That's why you each can only do one thing and why we must transform back shortly after._

"So one day I won't have to worry about running out of time after Lucky Charm?"

 _Yes and no. There is a limit to your powers. You are not gods. The conduits are slow to draw power by your standards so it will not be like drinking from a bottomless glass. Rather, you will be able to store power in your bodies as well and it is from these reserves that you will draw the energy for your abilities. When you run low, you will know, and we will be the source of power for your final ability—whatever it may be. Then the countdown will begin, same as usual._

"Wait! Plagg, you told me I'd have other powers soon. Is this why we'll get them?"

 _Yes. Our hosts always can use Cataclysm and Lucky Charm but from there, there are a number of abilities you could potentially manifest. There's no way to say which ones you will, however, so we prefer not to list the possibilities. They will come when they come. It could happen in as early as a few months from now, whenever your bodies are ready._

"How will we know when we start, um, collecting power?"

 _There will be signs. The process has an effect on your bodies. You're not quite there yet and you needn't worry anyway. It won't hurt you. In the end, it will only help you._

* * *

When Marinette was 16 years old, her periods stopped.

* * *

 **...oh.**


	16. Seize

**I've been waiting to post this for ages :')**

* * *

Marinette had been mostly regular since she was thirteen. She'd been early a few times, late for some others, but she had never skipped, not even once.

Three days after she was set to start in January, Marinette was in a constant state of anticipation. This wasn't her first rodeo. It could happen in the blink of an eye, a split second between normalcy and the mad rush for the bathroom. She wore black pants, kept medicine for cramps and a tampon in her purse, and was waiting for any hint of discomfort that would signal the beginning of her internal Armageddon. Her uterus wouldn't get the drop on this time. No, sir.

By the time a week had passed, she was officially Worried. She approached her mother hesitantly about the subject, reassuring her quickly that she hadn't been having sex so it couldn't be pregnancy, and Sabine gently assuaged her daughter's fears. Sometimes girls, especially young ones, would skip a period or two or it would come very late. It didn't mean there was anything wrong, she should just enjoy the respite she'd been granted.

February came…and her period did not. Marinette began to worry again. Sabine did, too.

* * *

March found Marinette at the doctor's office with her mother.

When Sabine first proposed a visit, Marinette had been hesitant. What if they found some sign of magic or godly power in her blood or something?! But Tikki had told her their instruments wouldn't be able to detect either within her. Magic was in so many humans that it was nigh undetectable and wouldn't be considered an anomaly even if it was and the power of Creation was beyond anything human kind or their machines could detect. So she allowed her mother to take her without any protest. Truth be told, she needed answers as much as her mother did.

The word 'amenorrhea' was tossed around along with a number of possible causes to be ruled out. The pregnancy test was the first of many, despite her insistence that there had been no one. They took blood, they checked her weight and diet, asked how much she exercised, if she was under a lot of stress. Her health needed her to tell the truth. Her secret identity prompted her to lie.

But secretly she wondered: could that really be it? Something as simple as over-exercising or too much stress? Maybe she should take a step back from patrolling. Chat would understand if it was for her health. In fact, he'd probably insist.

"What do you think, Tikki?" She asked when she and her kwami were alone in her room. "Is it really that simple?"

Tikki didn't meet her gaze as she said, "Perhaps."

"…Tikki?"

The kwami didn't look at her.

"Tikki, has this happened before?"

Tikki drifted away from Marinette towards the window. "You should at least tell Chat Noir if you're planning on cutting back. He'll understand, I'm sure."

"You're hiding something from me," Marinette breathed in realization. Tikki had been acting awfully…nonchalant about this whole thing. Marinette didn't expect her kwami to understand periods firsthand but after millennia with humans, she had to have pretty extensive knowledge of how they worked. She had to know that they didn't just _stop_ without reason. Apart from consoling and encouraging her, Tikki hadn't seemed concerned at all.

"You're hiding something from me, Tikki. I know you are!" Marinette lurched out of her chair and took a step towards her kwami. "What?"

Tikki finally turned around and her big, blue eyes were woeful. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" she blurted out. "It's my body, I have a right to know!"

The little red kwami took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for a difficult task, and flew closer to her charge. "Marinette…your cycle has come to an end."

Marinette recoiled. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you've been bonded to the Miraculous long enough that your body has begun to draw on my power." Tikki watched her warily even as she explained methodically, like she was reciting something she had rehearsed or said a hundred times over. "It's becoming another part of your body. _All_ of your body. If you had a child, they would be born with the power, and so would their children, on and on. They would never be safe and neither would you."

"What," Marinette asked, her voice hard, "are you saying, Tikki?"

"I'm saying that you can never have children. Your cycle has stopped because there's nothing left."

Marinette's hand flew to her abdomen as if she could shield it from her kwami's words. She took a step away, then another, and another, until she hit the wall. "No," she said calmly in contrast to the way she was screaming the same word in her mind. "No. You're lying."

Tikki shook her head. "I've never lied to you."

"NO!" Marinette repeated loudly. Tikki flew closer and Marinette jerked to the side, skittering along the edge of the room to keep space between them. "No, don't touch me! Stay _away_ from me!"

The kwami sighed but obeyed. "Marinette, I know this is upsetting—"

"No you don't! I—I wanted…I want children, Tikki! You know that! I've told you that! How _could_ you?"

"I've done nothing," Tikki denied with a shake of her head. "This was always going to happen. I told you the day you accepted the Miraculous, and again a few months ago, that there were many things that it would grant you and that I would explain them as they came."

"It hasn't granted me anything—it's stolen from me! I want children, Tikki!"

"You can't have them. I'm sorry."

"No you're not!" Marinette spat viciously. Her own ferocity reminded her of Chat Noir when he was furious and she sucked in a sharp breath. "What about Chat?"

Tikki shook her head. "He cannot father children, either."

"Does he know?"

"I don't know. He'll find out soon. You can't tell him," Tikki added sharply. "It is up to Plagg to determine the time and manner."

"And you call this 'time and manner?'" Marinette demanded.

"Would you have preferred I not told you and let you go on worrying?"

"I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED IF YOU HAD TOLD ME FROM THE BEGINNING!"

"Would you have accepted me?" Tikki asked. "Even with the promise of everything else, would this have stopped you from accepting me?" Marinette hesitated. Would it have? Tikki smiled knowingly. "We kwami learned long ago that if we tell humans everything up front, we would struggle to find hosts. We tell you what you need to know as it becomes relevant." Tikki drifted closer. "But I have never lie—"

Marinette jerked backwards. "I said stay away from me! You have no right to come anywhere near me!"

"I have every right," Tikki countered, drifting back. "But I'm respecting your wishes because I understand how you feel."

"No you don't! How could you possibly understand?!" she screamed, suddenly thankful that both of her parents were down in the bakery.

"Because I've had this conversation with almost every single Ladybug there has ever been." Tikki's bright eyes were heavy with age and although she didn't look any older than she ever did, Marinette could suddenly see the years on her. Countless centuries, countless Guardians before Marinette, and endless loop of the same conversations.

Marinette shook her head and the tears finally began to form, tiny little pricks of stinging that shocked her into action. Shaking her head again, she dove for her trapdoor.

"Marinette—"

Yanking the door up, "Leave me alone."

"But—"

Marinette slammed the door shut in her kwami's face, hoping the significance of the action would slow her down when the physical obstacle wouldn't, and fled the house.

* * *

She did not speak to Tikki for three days, barley acknowledged her existence save for the plate of cookies she left out each day, and didn't even consider transforming. Not even to let Chat know she couldn't make their scheduled patrols. She hoped he would forgive her but even if not, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye knowing what she did.

It was even longer before she donned the spots again and only because an akuma forced her hand. It didn't feel any different than before but Marinette's naivety had been destroyed and being Ladybug would never be quite the same. She was planning on de-transforming as soon as possible and sticking to transforming only when absolutely necessary. Keyword being: planning.

The moment she locked eyes with Chat Noir and saw the utter, undisguised _relief_ , she promptly reconsidered. After the fight, a venture which had required neither a Lucky Charm nor Cataclysm, Chat slipped his arm around her waist and launched them onto the safety and obscurity of the highest rooftop around. He hugged her tightly and buried his face in her throat and her hair, inhaling her scent. His body trembled while he told her that he'd spent the last days fearing she was hurt or _dead_. That he'd been terrified some other girl would show up to the fight today wearing her suit and bearing her title.

"What happened? Where were you?" he begged. And the worst part was that she couldn't tell him anything. Not yet.

* * *

When Adrien was sixteen, he got Ladybug's phone number. Not her actual phone number for her actual phone but it was better than nothing.

After he'd spent over a week fearing the worst, he never wanted to be cut off from her like that again. She wouldn't tell him why she had stayed away so long and he respected that it must have been something deeply personal. But he was selfish and she was his everything, even if she didn't realize it yet.

He bought them both simple prepaid phones. He left hers in its box and presented it to her the next time he saw her along with the number for his on a simple sheet of notebook paper. She accepted both without protest but only on the condition that he not take advantage of this. Guardian business only. He acquiesced. He'd expected no less.

…That didn't stop him from sending her cat-related memes on occasion when he felt like he needed something to make him smile. The annoyed replies he got were enough.

* * *

"Chat?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I—I…can I ask you something?"

"Of course, my lady."

"I…really need you to not take this the wrong way, okay? Just answer honestly."

"…Alright."

"Have you ever thought about having a family? Like, married with kids?"

"…Yes."

"Do you want that?"

"…"

"Please?"

"…I think I would. I don't know if I would make a good father, I haven't had much of a role model. It would be nice, with the right person."

"…"

"Ladybug?"

"I see."

"Do you? Want a family, I mean."

" _I'm sorry_."

"F-for what? Are you okay?"

"I can't tell you. I—I can't. I just can't do it. I'm sorry. I can't be the one."

"You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry."

"Ladybug, please—"

"I can't…I can't…"

"My lady, wait!"

* * *

 **We gettin some Madoka Magica shit up in here.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	17. Dix-Sept

**Yeah...I'm not sorry.**

* * *

Adrien was so worried about Ladybug but there was nothing he could do. She wouldn't tell him what was bothering her or why she'd left him, only that there was nothing he could do. That made it worse. Even worse still, there was no one he could talk to about it. Plagg had only shrugged when Adrien pressed him for answers and replied with a few dismissive words. Everyone else simply couldn't know.

And then, just because the universe hated him, he found out through Alya that something was wrong with Marinette as well. She wouldn't say what, although her expression had tightened while she deliberated before ultimately denying him, but Marinette had been to the doctor several times over it. Alya made him swear on pain of death that he wouldn't, under any circumstances, ask her about it. If Marinette wanted to talk about it, she would tell him. Alya had only told him something was going on so he wouldn't press Mari about it if she seemed depressed.

His two best girls and they both were going through things he wasn't privy to. He _hated_ it.

* * *

Their kwami had insisted it would only be physical characteristics of the animals that leaked through. There might be some minor behavioral influences but such things would still stem from their own natures. Therefore, Ladybug deduced, that Chat Noir must be an affectionate person.

She had always been a stickler for maintaining some distance between them, never letting them cross into something more than just friends. But after seeing him so raw, it had been impossible not to accept his hugs those first few days, to stop herself from rubbing his back or his head soothingly. She felt so bad for frightening him like that and wondered if he had abandonment issues. If affection was what it took to reassure him that she was _here_ and _okay_ then that was what she would give him.

She hadn't expected it to lead to…this. Nuzzling. It was very cat-like. He liked rubbing his face against her shoulder and burrowing it in her neck. He never touched her inappropriately, never did anything except snuggle. It had caught her off guard at first but she'd opted not to protest. It was…nice. It made her feel special, cared for.

…Loved, even.

* * *

"You _told_ him?!" Marinette wailed.

"Calm down! I didn't tell him what was going on—only that something was wrong with you." Alya reassured her quickly. "He could tell you weren't acting right and so I decided to head him off. I told him he wasn't to ask you about it, you'd tell him if you wanted."

Marinette's lip trembled and she shook her head. "I can't."

Alya wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "It's nothing to be ashamed of," she murmured. "It's not the end of the world and it isn't your fault. He wouldn't think any less of you if he knew."

"I…I just…I _can't._ Maybe if we start dating I will but—but not now."

* * *

During the last week of April, Nino and Alya began dating. Marinette wished she had the guts to tell Adrien how she felt, to ask him out. Adrien wondered if he and Ladybug would ever be able to go on a date.

* * *

"Please tell me what's wrong," he would whisper sometimes.

"I can't," she would always reply.

* * *

When Adrien found out, everything suddenly made perfect sense…in a weird, sick way. Those months of her acting weird, her unwillingness to tell him, and her disappearance. She must've been unable to bring herself to transform. He was tempted to do the same now but this—this was too much. He couldn't deal with this alone. He needed….

He needed _her._

* * *

Ladybug made it to their rendezvous point before him. A quick sniff of the air confirmed he hadn't been there in several days and wasn't simply hiding somewhere to pounce on her. That wasn't necessarily strange, just unusual. Usually he was eager to see her, to run, and to play. There must have been something in his other life that held him up. She doubted he would miss a patrol, she just needed to give him a few minutes.

He approached downwind of her and so she had no idea he was coming until almost the last second. She'd always been able to tell when he was in close proximity. The moment he came within fifty yards of her, she knew.

The way he landed should've tipped her off immediately. It was loud and almost clumsy. He wasn't even trying to be suave or sneaky which was entirely unlike him.

Ladybug turned around to greet him but he spoke before she could. "I know."

"What?" She turned fully and inhaled through her nose when she saw him. His green, catlike eyes were wide and haunted. Shoulders hunched, he wrung his hands nervously.

"I _know_ ," he repeated.

She cocked her head to the side. "You…know?"

Chat licked his lips and ducked his head. "That's why you disappeared in March, wasn't it? You found out."

Like a lightbulb going off in her head, his words and body language suddenly made sense. " _Oh._ You—yes," she said softly. Oh God. She wasn't ready for this.

He licked his lips again. "How did you find out?"

"Er, well. My, um, my periods stopped coming months ago," she explained, feeling her face flush. For all the intimacy they shared as partners, they'd never discussed anything personal like this before. "We tried to get answers and finally Tikki, she…"

"I kind of figured, honestly." He gave her a wry smile. "I… Earlier this evening, I got into an argument with my father over _carrying on the family name_. Plagg was trying to cheer me up. It didn't work."

Ladybug sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. Seriously? She'd held off telling Chat for these last weeks both because she was afraid and because she'd (grudgingly) accepted that it was his kwami's duty to tell him. And Plagg had treated it as a joke?! She was gonna wring that little—

Chat Noir's hands fell to his sides and he sighed. Ladybug pushed aside her ire and walked towards him. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?" Chat asked.

"This isn't about me right now. Are you okay? _"_

Ladybug stopped in front of him. Green eyes bore into hers intently for a moment before welling with tears. "I'm…not," he rasped. His jaw quivered and he reached up to wipe his eyes. "I'm r-really, r-really _not_."

"Oh, _chaton_ …" she breathed and cupped his face in her hands. His hands curled around her wrists and he let out a quiet sob. "C'mere," she said softly and pulled him into a hug. He sobbed again and wrapped his arms around her tightly, burrowing his face into her hair. Tears welled in Ladybug's eyes and she bit her lip against a sound that threatened to escape. This was about him right now. He didn't need to know she was crying, too. Raising one hand to his hair, she stroked the back of his head soothingly and shushed him.

* * *

"I'm sorry."

"No. You never have to apologize for crying. Not to me."

"I'm not sorry for crying. I'm sorry because I made you cry, too."

* * *

He sent her exactly seventeen funny cat pictures that night, one for each time he'd wanted to kiss her.

She responded with funny dog pics.

* * *

It took months for the doctors to learn the cause of her amenorrhea. She was a medical anomaly but it was what it was. Tikki had been right. Her ovaries were completely healthy and yet mysteriously absent of the thousands of eggs which should have lasted for decades. There was no explanation, no cause, they were simply gone. Her cycle had just ended.

Sabine cried openly and even Tom's eyes welled up though he kept himself collected for his wife. Marinette only sat there. She'd known it was true but somehow hearing it from the doctor made it seem more real. Now she had solid evidence that this was really happening. She knew she probably should have been crying, should have been doing or feeling something, but she was numb with acceptance.

There were possibilities, the doctor told her. Ways she could still have children. Adoption.

Marinette shook her head.

* * *

 **There's something very important that you're all missing, something _very_ obvious. You have all the information you need to figure it out but apart from the people I've told in private, only one person has managed to figure it out. **

**As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	18. Dix-Huit

**OOOOOKKAAAAAAAAAYYYYY ladies and gentlecats. I'm gonna need everyone to sit down, take a chill pill, and try and shake that serious 'having children is the pinnacle of happiness' mentality that you lot got going on. Jesus. You act like it's the literal end of the world that they can't have children.**

 **Yes, it is upsetting to them that they can't have children but their lives aren't over. And _no_ they cannot just magically have children later in life if they were to ~give up~ the Miraculous. A) It's for life. Even if they stopped using their Miraculous, that wouldn't matter because... B) did you guys miss the "Nothing left" part? Marinette LITERALLY has no more eggs and Adrien is sterile. _They ain't having babies. Deal with it._ There is more to life than having children and people can and do live happy lives without them.**

 **Also, on another note, do not assume anything in fanon (aka things not 100% confirmed by canon) apply here. That is all.**

* * *

The kwami wanted to talk to them both again the evening following Plagg's unfavorable reveal to Chat. Their 'lessons' had ended several months ago and the apartment they'd been using had been since rented out, but Chat Noir confirmed the one across the hall remained vacant. Ladybug met him there close to midnight.

She kept her features carefully schooled as she arrived through the window, knowing full well that he would be able to see her. He greeted her with a smile she could barely see and a pat on the shoulder. They sat back to back once more in one of the rooms and he squeezed her hand. She squeezed back to reassure him.

The moment Chat let his transformation fall away and the telltale swish of a kwami in flight reached her ears, Ladybug whipped around. "You!" she growled. She couldn't see her partner in the dark but she could make out the glowing green eyes of his kwami quite clearly. She'd been mad enough last night but the intervening hours had given her plenty of time to stew in her anger in resentment until it boiled over into righteous fury on behalf of Chat.

"Ladybug?" her partner yelped in surprise.

"'Don't worry about it, you can't have kids anyway'? Really?!" she demanded furiously. "Is this some kind of _joke_ to you!? How could you just _say_ it like that?! Didn't you even think or consider how it would hurt him?!"

She lunged towards the tiny god with the intent to…grab him. Throttle him, maybe. Shake him, definitely. Chat caught her before she could, however, and hauled her struggling form away from his kwami. He pinned her body to his, back pressed against his chest, and braced his legs on either side of hers. She could probably break his grip with ease. She had no idea how strong he was outside the suit but she was willing to bet her godly strength gave her an edge.

"Don't!" he hissed frantically in her ear. "It's okay."

"It is _not_!" Ladybug spat, glaring at the kwami. Wide, green eyes stared back and she wondered if he could see her clearly because he backed away. Tears welled in her eyes but she blinked them away furiously. "You selfish little—"

"My lady, please!"

"Calm her down," Plagg instructed. "I'll wait. Take out one of her earrings if you must." The god turned away and Ladybug could tell from the swishing that he was heading for the door. Ladybug renewed her struggle to get out of Chat's hold but he only tightened his grip.

"Don't fight me," he pleaded. "You'll hurt me or I'll hurt you and it's not worth it!"

Her struggling slowed and she exhaled through nose. "How are you not furious at him?!"

"I am," he said. "Whatever you're feeling right now, I can guarantee you that I am, too."

Ladybug shook her head. "He hurt you. He made it a _joke_. That isn't right!"

He sighed and she nearly squirmed as it tickled her neck. "None of this is right. I don't want to fight you." Then he nuzzled his face into her neck, effectively ending her struggles.

Ladybug sagged in his arms and finally let the tears that been building fall. His grip shifted from being constraining to a hug. His hands ran up and down her arms and rested his chin on her shoulder. He must have recognized her shuddering inhale for what it was because he lifted one hand to her face. She smiled at the way he carefully felt around for her cheeks then he wiped the tears away.

"We should let them explain themselves," he murmured. "That's why we're here."

She nodded in wordless agreement.

* * *

When Plagg returned a few minutes later, he found both teenagers in almost the same position as they had been in when they left. Only now Adrien sat with his back against the wall and Ladybug's head rested on his chest.

He hovered not too far away and cocked his head to the side. He hadn't a chance to observe them like this before. Memories of the transformations were one thing but seeing them with his own eyes was something else entirely. As they were right now, Plagg felt renewed certainty that he and Tikki had chosen correctly. They hadn't gotten the same page with their feelings but they loved each other, of that he was certain, even if the girl had yet to realize.

The reason behind her anger was not lost on him and he knew he had been tactless. He really had been trying to cheer Adrien up and had forgotten how humans tended to take the news that they couldn't procreate. Even the ones who didn't want children could be thrown off by the knowledge that they could never have them anyway. Adrien deserved better. He wasn't going to let her strangle him, though.

"Are you ready to listen?" Plagg asked them both.

Ladybug's eyes flicked to him and though there was hostility there, her anger from before had faded. She nodded her head but made no move to leave Adrien's embrace. Plagg smiled, knowing they couldn't see.

"You'll have to let Tikki come out," he reminded her.

Adrien sighed and rubbed his hand up her back then patted her shoulder. Ladybug took a deep breath and sat up, shifting out of his lap. They turned to sit back to back like normal and then she released her transformation. Tikki zipped out into the open. His heart (or whatever it was he had in his chest) swelled at the sight of her, as it always did. She gave her host a look of concern before she locked eyes with Plagg.

 _Honesty,_ she thought at him.

 _Agreed_ , he replied.

Then they flew down to their hosts' foreheads.

* * *

 _We need to explain ourselves to you. You deserve to know why we withheld information from you and why we will continue to do so…as well as why things are the way they are._

"You're damn right we do," Marinette growled.

The kwami sighed in unison. _You believe we have wronged you…and, we suppose, by the morals given to you by your society and era do dictate that we have. You believe we have deceived you but, in truth, we have done no such thing. In the matters of your powers, your duties, and your history, we have never once lied to you. We told you what you really needed to know up front and that we would explain the rest as time went on. Knowing this, you still consented._

"You should have told us everything." Adrien said.

 _We could not risk it. Though, had you asked, we would have explained further._

"That's not fair," Marinette protested. "You didn't even tell us there was fine print to read. You just—just…we're kids! How can youdo this to kids?!"

… _We think perhaps it best to start from the beginning. You need to see things from our perspective so that you can understand. First and foremost is your code. What are the Three?_

"Miraculous, kwami, partner," they recited together.

 _Precisely. Did we not tell you that it would be your duty to combat evil and dark forces throughout the world—forces you now know stem from Curse? And did we also not tell you that this would be a lifelong commitment that must always take priority? …By your silence we know you have no denial. Now ask yourselves this: would you truly be able to put the Three and your duties first if your child was clinging to your leg, crying, begging you not to go? If you had to choose between the life of your child and the life of your partner?_

"That's not fair," Marinette whispered again.

 _Perhaps. But to who? You, the child, your partner, or those who need your protection? This was one of the many things we considered when forming the system of the conduits. Yet to understand us and our logic, you must understand where we came from. We told you before that we are gods but do you truly understand what this means?_

 _In the dominant religion of this country, the concept of God is an all-powerful, omnipotent being who is responsible for everything. You think of God as an individual, even assign a gender. You believe God loves and feels sadness and anger. Many religions across the eras have given their deities humanlike appearances and traits to make them more relatable. Some of these deities are based on us, many aren't, but even those that are are…inaccurate. Gods in your religions have histories, stories. Some live grand lives and get into mischief. They all have lives and emotions._

 _Before we had bodies, we were not alive. We existed as sentient concepts and forces. The way we experienced our existence is indescribable. We felt but not like you feel; we had no emotions. We cared, we felt curiosity, longing, and regret but even then these feelings were nothing that you would consider emotions. We were aware of human emotion but had no reference for it, no experience with it, and, therefore, no way to understand it._

"You do now, though," Marinette pointed out.

 _We've lived for thousands of years. Our emotions came over time. Our first hosts met very different kwami than you did. Emotions were still foreign to us. We didn't know what to do with those…inclinations that came with our bodies in response to situations. Over time, we learned what they meant, learned to allow them to manifest, and now we embrace them. Emotions are a wonderful thing, even when they cause you pain. You have no idea how lucky you are to have experienced them for all of your existence._

"I don't understand emotions have to do with anything here," Adrien said.

 _We're getting there. Let us ask you a question, Ladybug. You wanted children when you were older. Why?_

Marinette was quiet for a long moment. "I'm not the best with kids but I—I've always loved the thought of having a family of my own. My parents told me once that I was the best thing that had happened to them and I guess I wanted to know what it was like. The thought of having children with someone I loved, raising them with him…I wanted that in my life."

 _All of the things you listed are emotionally based. None of it stems from the biological imperative. It's what separates you from other animals who mate to procreate and noting more. To us, you were animals. Sentient animals but animals all the same. We thought your kind gave birth to young because their instincts demanded it of them, not because they_ _ **wanted**_ _them. We thought that without the ability to birth or sire children, this instinct would cease to plague you. Removing it was the logical solution to us._

 _We saw the way you humans cared for your offspring. We saw the affection, the protection. We saw the way mothers and fathers alike would throw themselves onto the swords of their enemies if it would spare their children. We knew that what we would ask of our hosts would be great and to ask them to put their duties over their families would be cruel._

 _So all eighteen of us agreed that a safeguard must be put in place to prevent this. A trace of Destruction's power is woven into every conduit. When triggered, its function is to seek out the specific biological components that allow you to reproduce and render the host permanently sterile. We also found the female cycle to be moot at this point, as well as a potential burden in battle, so we decided to rid you of that as well._

"…Okay, I will say thanks for that," Marinette muttered. "Fighting with cramps sucked."

"Wait," Adrien blurted out. "You mean you've fought while you—I mean—when you were—how did you—"

Both the kwami chuckled.

"Oh my God," she mumbled. "I'm not having this conversation with you. Please keep going."

 _Certainly. In those days, children younger than you were married with children so this was a concern. We have chosen teenagers who were married in the past—those bonds are not permanent, we witnessed that many times—but never have we chosen one who has a child. All of us agreed that doing so would make your sterility a moot point. And, so, no Guardian has ever had a biological child—and no Guardian ever will._

"Ever?" Adrien asked quietly.

 _Ever._

 _But, we say again, in those days we did not understand. We do now. We see the pain it causes, we acknowledge it, and we are truly, deeply sorry. We acknowledge that you feel wronged, cheated. The millennia we have spent with your kind has shown us that we made a grievous error in judgement, though one we must stand by._

 _What would happen if you became pregnant in the midst of a conflict, Ladybug? You could not fight without risking the life in your womb. Chat Noir would be left to fight on his own and defend you. And even after you gave birth, assuming everything went well and the child was healthy, it would be utterly dependent on you for years. Then mostly dependent for years after that. You would be forever torn between your duty and child; bound by oath to one and by blood to the other._

 _You do not have to agree with us but can you at least understand?_

"I do," Marinette whispered. "I don't like it but I…"

"We see where you're coming from," Adrien finished. "You should have told us from the beginning."

 _It would have been kinder,_ the kwami agreed. _But that is not a luxury we can afford to give you. We cannot be without hosts for long, it's unsafe._

"That's a really shitty excuse," he told them bluntly.

 _To you, perhaps. Not to us. We brought ourselves into this world to protect it from Curse and we cannot do that if we are without a human host, nor can we adequately protect ourselves for long. And we owe it to the surviving Guardian to seek out a new host as quickly as possible so that he or she is not forced to fight alone. If your anger and your pain are the punishments that we have to bear for our haste, then so be it. We stand by our actions and it is your right to despise them. Though we hope you will not despise us._

 _It has never been, nor will it_ _ **ever**_ _be our intention to harm you. We care for you, both of you. We ask so much of you but it is our dear hope that your lives be good and happy. We withhold things from you for your sakes and safety. There are many things we have yet to tell you simply because you're too young. You do not need any more burdens yet than those you already bear._

"Then why don't you pick adults?" Marinette asked bitterly.

 _That's nigh on impossible. We designed the process to work alongside your puberty so that they could work together and ease your body through everything naturally. It would be very…dangerous to choose a fully matured adult. Simply put, it might not take like it should. Of course, it wasn't too long ago that children your age were considered old enough to marry, own land, rule kingdoms. To us, such things deemed you mature enough to be given and to handle such a responsibility._

 _We will not ask for your forgiveness although we do hope you will grant it one day. All we ask is for your understanding. We only meant for the best._

* * *

 **If at this point the _significant plot point_ is not glaringly obvious then I don't know what to say to you. ** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ **Other than to look back at the author's note in chapter six.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	19. Dix-Neuf

**LOL here we go again**

 **Also, y'all need to grasp the concept of Occam's Razor -_-**

* * *

By the end of May, Alya was anxious to get another Ladybug or Chat Noir exclusive. With all the chaos and pain the first part of the year had brought, Marinette hadn't really given much thought about indulging her friend. When the blogger approached her in the aftermath of an akuma attack on the first day of summer vacation (of _course_ ), Ladybug decided to throw her a bone.

Alya agreed to meet in an hour in a nondescript park in a different arrondissement. She'd about had kittens when both Ladybug _and_ Chat Noir arrived. Chat had never been one for the limelight even though he deserved it as much as she did. He preferred to stand back and let her take the fame while he worked behind the scenes, sometimes comforting the akuma victim or one of the victim's victims. He also was hesitant to get too close to Alya while transformed. He knew her, after all. He'd gotten close to Marinette, too, and she'd never been able to see through the magic that concealed his identity, but Alya was much more astute.

But Ladybug had asked him to come and he couldn't say no to her.

"Shall we?" Chat asked smoothly, extending his baton.

Alya blinked and looked at Ladybug for explanation.

"We can't do an interview down here," she told her friend with a gesture around them. Already people had noticed their arrival and were moving this way, the children faster than the adults.

"Um…right. Okay. Where are we going then?"

"Excuse me, _mademoiselle_ Ladyblogger." Chat slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side. "Welcome aboard the Chat Noir Express. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times."

"Wait WHAT?!" Alya yelped and then screamed like a banshee when Chat launched them into the air. Laughing, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo and followed them. They alighted on the nearest rooftop, just long enough to reposition Ayla so she was riding piggyback, and then they were off.

They took her to a stable, mostly flat rooftop a few blocks away. High enough they wouldn't be seen, far enough from the park that no one could have followed. Setting her down, Chat backed away from the frazzled blogger to stand by his Lady. They allowed Alya a few moments to collect herself after that thrilling escapade.

"Warn a girl next time!" she snapped.

"I did," Chat pointed out.

Alya narrowed her eyes at him dangerously and his ears flattened. The sight was enough to soothe her ire and an incredulous laugh bubbled up. Ladybug giggled, too. The great Chat Noir, cowering before the Ladyblogger. If only she'd had her camera on.

He cleared his throat pointedly, ears righting themselves. "Well, come on. I have things to do today so if you want this interview, then let's get this party started."

Ladybug elbowed Chat in the side. "What he means to say is we're ready when you are." He rubbed his side and gave her a petulant frown.

Alya's gaze shifted between them and a strange looked appeared on her face. Then she laughed quietly, to herself, and pulled out her phone. "This isn't going to be live," she explained as she lined up the shot. "Is that how you're going to stand?"

The Guardians looked at each other in confirmation and then nodded as one. Alya got that funny look on her face again and pressed record.

* * *

" _Hey there, everyone! No your eyes aren't deceiving you, I'm here with Ladybug and Chat Noir for an exclusive interview!"_

 _Chat Noir smiled broadly and Ladybug waved. They stood side-by-side, arms almost brushing. Though their features were as indistinguishable as ever, he was clearly about a head taller than her._

" _So, we're coming up on your second year as our heroes, am I right?"_

" _Yes," Ladybug answered. "Time flies, doesn't it?"_

" _That means the second anniversary of your blog is coming up, too, right?" Chat asked with a grin. "You should celebrate."_ _  
_

 _Alya laughed. "I might. So, just in general, how have you two been?"_

 _Something flashed across Chat's face for a moment but Ladybug smiled. "We're doing fine," she answered smoothly. "Same old, you know?"_

" _What's 'same old' for you? What do you do when you're not fighting akuma?"_

" _Oh, this and that," Chat said vaguely. "Run around. Take cat naps."_

" _Together?" Alya asked mischievously._

" _On occasion," Ladybug replied without missing a beat. "You would, too, if you worked as hard as we do."_

 _Alya laughed. "Okay, so, the real reason I wanted to talk to you was because there's another anniversary coming up in a few days."_

 _They cocked their heads in unison._

" _There's been so much speculation in the past year but no one's really been able to provide any concrete answers. She was here one day and gone the next. And the second time she was seen, you two seemed to be fighting! So what's the deal?"_

 _Ladybug figured it out first, her expression morphing into a scowl. Chat followed swiftly behind with an annoyed roll of his eyes. "Volpina," she said flatly._

" _Yep!" Alya said excitedly. "The internet has been_ _ **buzzing**_ _with theories about her. I've been doing some research and the fox heroine was last spotted in Russia. What was she doing here in Paris? Why were you fighting?"_

" _She was no hero," Ladybug replied coldly. "She was a liar…and then akuma on top of it."_

 _Alya sucked in a sharp breath. "But I remember seeing the three of you together."_

" _We ran with her for a few minutes," Chat Noir agreed. "But only because we weren't sure of who she was and considering she had just saved a lot of lives, we had no reason to not trust her. We were able to figure out pretty quickly that she wasn't…like us. She disappeared because Ladybug purified the akuma."_

" _But if she was an akuma, why did she save people from that meteor?" Alya asked._

 _Ladybug rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Do you really think something that big could have come into our atmosphere without the ESA or NASA going ballistic well in advance?"_

" _Not even we could stop something that hot coming in that hot and that fast," Chat continued. "Nothing could."_

" _And why didn't anyone see it leaving the atmosphere? As far as anyone knows, it just disappeared."_

" _The theory was that she obliterated it," Alya said._

 _Chat shook his head. "Volpina was a trickster."_

 _"A conniving liar," Ladybug added frostily, "who cared about no one but herself."_

" _Yeah…. Her power was to create illusions. The meteor was nothing but a projection. She did that to draw attention to herself."_

 _"To make people think she was a hero."_

" _Why would she do that?" Alya asked._

 _Chat shook his head and Ladybug said, "That's part of the reason she was akumatized."_

" _Do you know her identity?"_

 _The heroes glanced at each other. One of Chat's ears twitched. "We do," Ladybug answered, turning back to the camera._

"… _And are you gonna share?"_

 _Chat Noir's eyes glinted. "What do you think would happen if we went around and shared the identities of every akuma, Alya?"_

 _Alya cleared her throat quickly. "Alright, fair point. What about September?"_

" _September was a temper tantrum," Ladybug said disgustedly. "She was spreading rumors and it backfired on her, so Papillon decided to target her again."_

" _She was taken down pretty easily, too." Chat said with a toothy grin that didn't match the subject matter._

" _So, okay, just to recap. This Volpina girl was an akuma, not a hero, and her whole gig is illusion?"_

" _Pretty much, yeah."_

 _Ladybug opened her mouth to say something in reply—_

Lila slammed her laptop shut. Fingernails digging into her palms, the sixteen year-old jumped out of her chair with a scream of indignation. How _**dare they**_?!

* * *

This time was different.

This time, when the butterfly came to call, Lila was ready. Somehow, she'd felt it coming and known what it meant. When the cursed creature fluttered through her open window, she was waiting with the fox necklace in hand. She thrust it out towards the butterfly and grinned when it found its target.

This time, the victim was willing. In all the years he had been making them, he had never had an akuma who _wanted_ to be his pawn. So, Papillon decided to try something new.

This time she would be in her own mind.


	20. Vingt

Ever since she had been banned from his house, neither Adrien nor Marinette had heard from Lila. They found out through Mireille that she hadn't been telling any outlandish stories at her school, mostly because people didn't believe her any more. Beyond that, though, they hadn't heard anything about her since September. They would've been quite happy to never hear from her again. They certainly had never expected a return of her alter ego, either.

Then, the day after their interview went live, the Ladyblog and media outlets exploded with the news: Volpina was back and she had marched on the Louvre with a small army.

* * *

"Let's both agree to never give Alya exclusive interviews like that ever again!" he yelled into his communicator.

" _Agreed!"_ she shrieked in reply.

* * *

Both Guardians knew the moment they saw her that something was different. Physically she was exactly the same with the exception of her hair which now came just past her ears. Her necklace hung around her neck as usual, bright orange instead of akumatized purple. By this point, you'd think she would have the wherewithal to maybe hide the darn thing.

The Louvre was very place she had made her debut, flying up to stop a meteorite from destroying the museum and half the city with it. This time she wasn't pretending to be a hero to woo the crowd. The news helicopter had been unable to get much footage before it had to flee from her attacks but what they'd gotten had shown Volpina (and about a dozen copies of herself) herding people out into the courtyard.

When they arrived, they found the museum staff and its visitors behind held hostage in the area around the pyramid. Seven gruesome monsters formed a line between the crowds and the mass of police that had gathered in the street. The shortest of these monsters was easily six feet tall. The most intimidating stood at least nine feet tall, was a sickly green color, and had thick, glowing green claws as long as Ladybug's forearm. At first glance, Ladybug and Chat were horrified at the prospect at facing so many opponents on top of Volpina, but then they realized that they had to be illusions. Papillon had never akumatized more than one person at once, they weren't even sure he could. This was more of Volpina's M.O.

Hostages, though.

Hostages weren't.

Volpina stood calmly atop the pyramid in the center, confident in her power and position above them all. Like a queen. Or a warden. If she had seen Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive she gave no sign of it.

Chat Noir hissed softly, ears flat against his head.

"Easy," Ladybug cautioned. His tail lashed back and forth.

"I don't like this," he growled. "Akuma never take hostages."

"And Papillon has never akumatized the same person more than once. This is the third time."

"Exactly," he hissed. "Something is going to happen."

Ladybug looked at her partner in concern, taking in the way he was crouched instead of sitting, the position of his ears, and the way his tail whipped around erratically. Tension rolled off him in waves. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he immediately relaxed.

"Hey," she said quietly. She rubbed her hand along his shoulder and his ears slowly perked up. "What's wrong?"

A muscle in Chat's jaw twitched and he slumped against the wall behind him. Shoulders hunched, he swung his head back and forth. "I don't know. There's something…in the air. I don't like it."

"I don't feel anything."

"Then take my word for it, it's bad. I—" He cut off abruptly and his teeth clicked as they connected. His brow furrowed and he seemed to be listening to something. Ladybug waited. "It's one of my powers coming through," Chat murmured. "I can sense impending disasters."

"Did Plagg wake up?" Ladybug asked.

He nodded and gulped. "He's gone back under now. …I told you. Something bad is going to happen."

"Hey." She placed her hands on either side of his face and gently urged him to look at her. "I need you with me. Nothing's going to happen and if it does, I'll make things right. I always do. …It's only Volpina. She's nothing but lies. We'll stop her."

* * *

Three things happened when Ladybug and Chat Noir made themselves known.

The hostages cried out, some in fear, some for help, some in relief.

The seven monsters bellowed seven different but equally horrifying roars.

Volpina smirked.

" _There_ you are!" she shouted. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up at all. Some heroes."

"Cut the crap!" Chat retorted.

She raised her eyebrows. "And what will you do if I don't, cat boy?" she challenged. "I hold all the cards right now and if either of you comes any closer…." She made a sweeping gesture at the people gathered below the pyramid. "Then my monsters will get to play."

A frightened murmur swept through the crowd.

Ladybug rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Give me a break," she muttered then raised her voice, addressing the hostages below. "They're just illusions! They can't hurt you! Run! Quickly!"

Murmuring swept through the crowd and for a few moments, people milled about uncertainly. Then a young man with an athletic build broke away from the group and sprinted towards the line of monsters barring the way.

No one saw Volpina's smirk.

All hell broke loose. The nearest monster—seven feet tall and looking like the cross between a gorilla and a dragon—whipped around with an ear-shattering screech. The man stumbled in shock and then staggered backwards as a large paw swung towards him. People screamed as the so-called illusion plucked the runner off the ground like he weighed absolutely nothing.

Ladybug gasped, hand flying to her mouth, and Chat Noir swore loudly. The gorilla-dragon turned to them and waved the man back and forth like a child showing off its new toy. He let out a squeal of terror, clawing fruitlessly at the giant hand holding him.

"Are you sure about that, Ladybug?" Volpina taunted.

There had to be an explanation. Something they weren't seeing. A slight of hand, a trick. Unless Papillon had given her new powers? Could he even do that? No one had ever been akumatized more than once and no two akumas had been the same. Could he choose what powers he gave people or were they circumstantial?

"He's not real!" Chat blurted out.

Ladybug whipped her head around. "What?!"

"Remember that Agreste kid and the Eiffel Tower? That person is fake!"

"Chat—"

"Only her illusions can interact with each other! He has to be!" Chat cried and then took off at a sprint across the roof.

"What if he isn't?!" she shrieked.

"JUST TRUST ME!" He called over his shoulder and dropped onto all-fours. "Hit him!"

Ladybug gritted her teeth and reached for her yo-yo. Chat had called it last time. She didn't know how but he'd known the Adrien Volpina was dangling off the side of the tower wasn't real. She had to trust his judgement. …If he was wrong, though, Ladybug was about to attack a civilian.

"God help me," she muttered and then hurled her yo-yo at the monster and its hostage.

Someone screamed.

The body of the yo-yo passed through the hostage's chest and he disappeared in a puff of orange smoke, followed by the monster immediately after. Air rushed out between Ladybug's clenched teeth and she snapped the yo-yo back.

That was all Chat needed to see. He let out a roar and leaped off the rooftop, baton whirling over his head like a blade. He brought it swinging down on the head of the nearest monster and it, too, disappeared. A number of police officers on the other side of the perimeter surged forward as Chat ran along the line, dispelling each monster with a vicious swipe of his staff.

Ladybug growled and hurled her yo-yo at Volpina. The girl didn't even try to dodge and Ladybug knew before her weapon made contact that she, too, was a fake.

* * *

"That wasn't very nice, you know."

Ladybug nearly jumped out of her skin. Spinning around, she immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Volpina stood just behind her, just as confident as the one standing on the pyramid had been. Arms folded, hip cocked to the side, she shook her head and tutted quietly.

"But, then again, it's you." Volpina smirked. "And we both know how nice you _really_ are, don't we?"

"Lila, enough," Ladybug snapped. "Maybe I was harsh on you last year but _you_ were the one lying and pretending to be someone you weren't. And now look at you! Did the interview really make you mad enough to be an akuma?! Seriously?!"

Volpina laughed scornfully.

"You've gone too far this time," Ladybug went on. "Those people did nothing wrong!"

"Oh, please, I wasn't _actually_ going to hurt them," she said as if it were obvious. "They were just tools. I needed to draw you both out and I wanted to make sure everyone was watching what's about to happen."

Ladybug stiffened. "What do you mean?"

A yowl rang out behind her and Chat Noir landed at Ladybug's side a split second later, baton outstretched threateningly at Volpina. He hissed warningly.

Volpina looked him up and down with mild interest. "You know, I really wouldn't have a problem with you if you weren't so insistent on protecting her. Do you even _know_ her?"

"She's my partner! I know her better than you ever will," he snapped. "Ladybug is honest, she cares about people, and _you_ …well, way I hear it, you're selfish, dishonest, and you manipulate people. Now you're an akuma again, holding people hostage, and for what?!"

"For this," Volpina said. She gestured out to the city. "You and I know that all my illusions are fake. But everyone else doesn't. You two may be able to figure out when it's an illusion… _somehow…_ but no one else can."

"What did you do?" Ladybug demanded.

"Nothing…yet. Right now, the real me is out there somewhere. As soon as this copy disappears, I'm going to start creating illusions of whatever I want and I'm not going to stop until you catch me. I wonder what will happen if, say, a dozen tigers suddenly appeared in the middle of the zoo? Or if the _Arc de Triomphe_ started to collapse…"

"What?!" Chat yelped.

"Why would you do that?" Ladybug shrieked. "What can you possibly hope the gain from this?!"

"Satisfaction."

Volpina winked and then she sprinted towards them. Both heroes gasped and Chat Noir's body jerked forward so fast that Ladybug didn't even have a chance to process he'd moved until he was already in front of her. Volpina collided with his baton and disappeared into a puff of orange smoke.

* * *

One minute later, _Ponts des Arts_ collapsed into the river.

* * *

 **YEAHOOOO _GET REKT_  
**

 **I mean...what?**


	21. Vingt-et-Un

**I had too much fun writing this. It's supposed to be serious, dammit. Oh well.**

* * *

Both heroes were nearing their limits by the time the sun had begun to set. In the four hours since Volpina had declared her intentions and disappeared, there had been twelve reported illusion 'attacks', all scattered about Paris. She had carried through on her hypotheticals of tigers in the zoo and the collapse of the _Arc de Triomphe._ She set construction work on fire, unleashed demonic creatures in a cathedral, and created 'walls' along the entrances and exits to metro in the heart of Paris. And that was just the beginning. Illusions, every last one, but very, _very_ real to the people experiencing them.

Ladybug and Chat Noir could do nothing but respond to each situation as it arose. The news outlets and social media were swamped with reported sightings of Volpina, coverage of the incidents, announcements from officials, and warnings for Parisians and tourists alike. There was no way to filter and sort through it all. So they'd stopped trying to rely on outside help and took to scouring Paris between incidents.

Several times they encountered 'Volpina', only to quickly discover that she was nothing but a decoy copy. There had been thirty reported sightings of Volpina, most of which were miles from the most recent incident and likely copies themselves. It was impossible to tell which one was real without attacking them all.

The illusions themselves were easy to deal with. Sometimes they arrived to find that people had unwittingly dispelled parts of them since they disappeared when forcibly brought into contact with anything real. By the time of the seventh incident—a swarm of crickets across an outdoor market—awareness of the situation had risen greatly and, apparently, once people realized what was going on, they had decided not to wait for the heroes. So when Ladybug and Chat Noir finally turned up, they found shopkeepers and patrons alike bravely combatting the illusionary bugs with brooms, rolled up newspapers, purses, shoes, and anything else they could find, led by an overenthusiastic tourist wielding a fanny pack.

The illusions were also in and of themselves harmless. Even the collapsing _Arc_ could be deemed as unthreatening because no one would be hurt by the falling debris. The real danger came from people's reactions. People were panicky creatures and Volpina's illusions weren't exactly subtle. So far the heroes were aware of multiple traffic accidents, many injuries, at least seven panic attacks, one broken iPhone—which managed to stick out in their minds because its owner was very much like a certain Bourgeois—a sobbing priest and quite a few inconsolable nuns, as well as plenty of incidental property damage.

No one had died yet but that could easily change. Ladybug could fix everything else but restoring the dead back to life…she wasn't sure if she could do that. She had never been in a position where she had to find out, thank the kwami, and now that she knew a Guardian of Life existed, she was doubtful.

Poor Chat Noir's newfound sense was going absolutely haywire. Apart from the overwhelming sense of dread which was slowly eating away at his composure, every so often he'd feel flickers of…something and his eyes would be drawn in a particular direction. Not long after, they would get wind of another attack, always in the direction that he had been drawn to. By the fifth attack, Ladybug had stopped questioning him when he insisted on a direction to run in.

Yet even then, they never arrived in time to catch Volpina herself.

Suffice to say, by the time Volpina brought most of the gargoyles on Notre Dame to "life", they were exhausted and downright cranky. Fortunately, people were well aware of what was going down by this point, and many eagerly assisted in dispelling the illusions, including police officers who had been given instructions to aid Ladybug and Chat Noir in any way possible.

Not only did they appreciate the help, there was something ridiculously hilarious about watching Paris's finest charging into battle against gargoyles like something out of Lord of the Rings.

* * *

After Notre Dame, Ladybug asked Chat to give her a few minutes and then took off in the direction of _la Rive Droite_. He had a feeling that she might have been going to check in with her family since she'd mentioned needing to not long before they'd gotten word about Notre Dame. He should probably do the same but he wasn't going to risk it. Considering Volpina was loose, his absence had to have been noticed, but if he went back now then getting away again would likely be impossible. He wondered how she planned to.

His stomach rumbled and Chat Noir frowned. They'd barely had a moment's rest and nothing to eat since before all this began. Lifting his nose, he scented the air. He could smell food not too far away, no doubt from one of the restaurants on the island. Deciding to play the hero card, he leaped down from his perch on one of the cathedrals lower balconies used his baton to propel himself over the heads of the people milling about below.

Chat's nose led him to a brasserie just a few blocks from the church. There weren't many people inside, staff notwithstanding, which didn't surprise him. A lot of people had retreated to their homes and hotels where they could hope for some measure of safety. The occupants of the brasserie were instantly on alert the moment the hero entered. Chat's ears lowered humbly as he approached the counter. Ladybug would probably have an easier time doing this than he would so he had to be careful.

" _Salut_ ," he greeted.

"Hello," the man behind the counter replied, perturbed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Chat reassured him quickly. "There was an incident at the Notre Dame but it's been dealt with."

"Good. Then is there something I can help you with? We haven't seen the fox girl, she hasn't been around here."

"No, no." Chat shook his head and inhaled deeply. "…I know this might sound strange but, um, can I have some food?"

The man blinked.

Chat plastered on his most pleading expression, complete with the big eyes and wheedling tone that always worked wonders on the house staff. "Ladybug and I have been running around for hours and we haven't had time to eat and we're _really_ hungry and we have no idea how long it could be before we get to eat again. I can send a friend to pay you back later!" he added. "We're just really hungry and we live really far away and—"

The man held up his hand and Chat pressed his lips together. "The only thing we have that you'll be able to run with and eat are sandwiches. What would you like on them?"

Chat's ears perked up so fast that the man laughed.

* * *

Tom and Sabine were beside themselves by the time Ladybug arrived. She understood completely and was not looking forward to facing the music as herself later on. Hopefully her visit would at least diminish the amount of trouble she'd be in, as well as their fears. She explained to them as calmly and contritely as possible that Marinette's absence was entirely her fault.

"She has been an invaluable asset today," Ladybug said. "We would not even have been able to make it as far as we have without her."

"Where is she?" Tom demanded.

Ladybug shook her head. "I can't say, I'm sorry. The less people who know the better. I swear to you that she's not in any danger."

"That's not enough!"

"I cannot tell you," she insisted. "It is for my safety, Chat Noir's, and for your daughter's. It is our…safe house. It's not always possible for us to return home after a fight. We have a place we go. She's there, monitoring social media and the news for us. Her phone is turned off as a precaution. I swear to you that no harm will come to her there. I can count on one hand the number of people who know its location."

"Why her?" Sabine asked. "Of all the people you could have chosen, why is our daughter helping you?!"

"Marinette is a friend, one of the only ones that I have." Ladybug admitted. "She agreed to never say a word about it to anyone for her own sake. If Papillon knew…. Which is why we cannot risk even you knowing. If one of you were to be akumatized—"

Tom cut her off with a furious shake of his head. "And what if she is?"

"Marinette has received…training. Even if she is targeted, it would be very difficult for her succumb. She's _safe_ , I promise, and I will personally bring her home."

"When?" Sabine fretted.

Ladybug paused. When _was_ she planning on coming home? If they didn't catch Lila tonight, could she risk coming home and not being able to leave again? "Tonight or tomorrow," she answered. "I'd rather we stop Volpina first. In the meantime, do not let anyone know she is with us. Even other members of your family or close friends."

"We don't like this. Or appreciate it. She's our daughter."

"I'm sorry." Ladybug ducked her head apologetically. "I need to go. I'll let her know I came by as soon as I can. She's been worried about you."

Tom and Sabine looked at each other. "Tell her we're fine," her father said. "And thank you for coming to tell us."

* * *

Chat was waiting for her on top of one of the Notre Dame towers when she returned. From the smell of things, he'd come and gone from the church…and he had food. Sure enough, there was a bag in his lap containing a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. She could've kissed him. If she hadn't been so hungry, she may just have.

"Courtesy of a brasserie just up the road," he explained as he relinquished the food. She immediately tore open the sandwich wrapper. "I knew you had to be as hungry as I was. They were all too willing to feed the heroes after such a long day."

Ladybug didn't comment, too busy wolfing down the sandwich to bother with words.

"The sense of doom has…faded." Chat went on. "I still have a bad feeling but nothing like it's been. I think she might have decided to stop…for now. But she's still out there," he added, voicing her thoughts. "So we can't just pack it up and go home."

"I know," Ladybug agreed as she swallowed the food in her mouth. "But what can we do? We can't find her, she has no target this time, and no way to track her."

"We need help," Chat agreed. "But if we go to the police, then it seems like we can't do this ourselves…and she wins."

"We already look like we can't do this ourselves."

They both fell silent. For a few minutes, they sat and watched the city as Ladybug finished her sandwich then moved onto bag of chips. The sky was steadily darkening as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Shadows grew longer and the lights of the city flickered to life, though not as many as there usually were, Ladybug noted. Traffic was unusually quiet. It was as if the city was holding its breath and waiting. The Eiffel Tower glowed in the distance. So far it had been spared from illusions but Ladybug knew it was only a matter of time. Volpina was probably saving it for something special. She shuddered at the possibilities.

"Hey…Ladybug?" Chat murmured. She hummed. "Do you think she's acting a bit…odd?"

"Who? Volpina?"

"Yeah. She's not like she was before. The hostages, for one." He began to tick things off on his fingers. "For another, these attacks are completely random. Scattered. All over the place. It's either really strategic or completely impulsive. Her motive seems to be just to fuck with us. She hasn't even mentioned our Miraculous. She doesn't mind being called Lila—"

"Wait, what?" Ladybug frowned. Didn't she? Akuma never liked being referred to by their real name. They often got irate or violent as a result of hearing it. But Volpina…

"You've called her Lila at least twice and so have I, but she hasn't tried to correct us even once."

"…Huh."

A beat.

She inhaled sharply.

The heroes looked at each other. Their eyes widened.

"You don't think…."

" _No way_."

"Is that even possible?!"

"We have to ask," Ladybug decided, jumping to her feet and pulling out her yo-yo. "Come on."

"What? Where? My Lady, waaaaiiit!"

* * *

 **Oh me oh my, whatever could they be thinking?**


	22. Vingt Deux

Marinette paced back and forth across the dark room anxiously. The blinds were drawn and there was just enough light for her to see where she was putting her feet not enough to make out more than a few basic details about her partner's face, and even then they were things she already knew. She was making an effort to avoid looking at him anyway as they waited. The kwami were talking quietly on the other side of the room in a language neither of them could understand. Tikki sounded distressed, Plagg sounded agitated, and both were successfully stressing out their hosts even further.

Her pacing certainly wasn't helping Adrien relax. From his place against the wall, he tracked her repetitive march across the room until he'd finally had enough. He reached out, catching her hand as she passed by, and halted her progress.

"Please stop," he pleaded quietly. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry," she apologized. "But I can't sit still."

"You need your rest. We've been moving all day. Please sit down."

Marinette sighed. After a moment she nodded and allowed him to guide them both to the ground. She'd never tell him but these days just being in his presence was comforting. During battles and in between them, being by his side was enough to take some of the weight off her shoulders. She knew it had to be because of their bond but even still it was a bit embarrassing to know she had a connection like that to another person. Never mind to someone whose name she didn't even know. It would be different if they were together every day or knew each other the way Marinette knew Alya or Adrien.

Still, it was what it was, and after the day they'd had, she was only too eager for anything that might help her relax. If just being near him helped, then logic dictated that cuddling would work wonders. And science said hugging helped people, she was sure she'd heard that somewhere. Who was she to argue with science? Yep. Science.

He tensed up when she pressed the side of her body into his and she felt him look down at her. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder and he didn't hesitate, shifting his position so he could slide his arm around her. They took a moment to get comfortable with each other and ended up with her head on his chest and his cheek on top of her head.

"I'm tired," she admitted in a whisper. "I just want to go to sleep and forget about it."

He chuckled quietly. "Me too."

"Good thing it's summer."

"Oh yeah."

Marinette took a deep breath and burrowed further into his chest as she exhaled. She wished she could smell his scent like this but without her transformation, her nose was too weak to pick up more than vague traces of sunscreen, sweat, and boy. Nothing like his scent as Chat. She wondered if he ever thought the same.

"Ladybug, Chat, turn your backs," Tikki ordered, the sudden use of French catching their attention.

For a moment, neither of them moved and both considered whining in protest. Then Marinette sighed and sat up, his arms going slack to let her move. They scooted around until they were sitting in their familiar position, backs pressed against each other, and only then did the kwami approach. Each flew in front of their hosts and both teenagers closed their eyes in preparation for what was coming.

* * *

They were in the white space again. The sixteen orbs of the kwami appeared without ceremony in their usual pairings.

 _We have already introduced you to the kwami pairs by what forces they represent. One day, you will know them all by the animals they chose as well, perhaps even their names. But for now, we will focus on this one in particular._

Fifteen orbs faded away, leaving behind the coppery orb which was always paired with pure white one.

 _Who is this?_ the kwami asked, like teachers prompting their students.

"Deceit, right?" Adrien answered.

 _Correct. Her name is Firra._

The orb disappeared.

 _Her Guardian is the Fox, the same way that you are the Cat and the Beetle, or Bug. The akuma Volpina's powers are almost a direct copy of the Fox's. Or, at least, the Fox's initial powers. The Fox's ability to create illusions is akin to your Lucky Charm and Cataclysm. It functions differently but the concept is the same. Papillon gave Volpina the basic powers of the Fox, likely in an attempt to fool you both in case we had already told you about them._

"Oh my God," Adrien whispered. "How did he even know? This is Guardian stuff."

 _Because the powers of Guardians have never been kept secret. There are a number of historical texts containing information on the Guardians and their powers—although knowledge of us kwami and our origins is virtually non-existent. Most of these tomes are either lost, destroyed, or in possession of ancient orders or their remnants. Though not many people today believe in our existence, anyone who is diligent enough in search and study could learn about us._

"It makes sense," Marinette said slowly. "Someone who doesn't know about Guardians and our powers would have no reason to come after us. Of course he'd know about the others. …Have we fought others based on Guardians?"

 _No. Volpina is the first…and hopefully the last. It is very disgraceful to us and a dangerous move on his part. He is taking quite a risk by mimicking one of us. Up until now he has managed to avoid attracting the attention of other Guardians but if he keeps this up, that won't last._

"Yeah," Adrien agreed. "Okay. But you still haven't answered our question. Is it possible for Volpina to be aware?"

 _Oh, yes, entirely. Papillon is… We told you he uses the powers of Curse to create akuma but this is only partially true. In actuality, the butterfly spirits are from Blessing. What makes them akuma is the taint of Curse he inflicts on them._

"So how am I able to purify them?" Marinette asked. "What does that have to do with Creation?"

 _Oh, nothing at all, really. All Guardians are capable of purifying Curse—it's the power of Blessing within you. Yes, Chat—you, too, could purify them, though not in the same way, and Plagg would have to teach you. It does not come natural to you the way it does to her because of the negative energies in your powers, but you are capable of it._

"I want to learn," Adrien said immediately. "That way if something happens to her I can still deal with it."

"Should've taught him already," Marinette muttered.

 _Of course. If you're up for it, we can start once you have Volpina's akuma. Now, getting back to the matter at hand, these butterflies were intended to provide stability and direction in a person's life, sometimes by giving them something they lacked. We have seen them at work. The person who was gifted with one would usually prosper and both the joining and separation were peaceful. Under the influence of Curse, however, the spirits are corrupted, their purpose warped, the minds of their hosts distorted._

 _It is quite possible that Papillon has chosen to allow Lila to maintain her mind. He has not done it in all the time he has pursued us but neither has he used a person more than once. There's something about Lila that he likes and that makes her dangerous. After this, she will need to be dealt with permanently._

Marinette let out an odd croak. Adrien gasped. "What?! You mean kill her?!"

… _It is a solution, though one we know better than to ask of you. Worry not. However, it is clear to us that Papillon has taken a liking to her. She may have an affinity for Curse or perhaps her festering dislike of you makes her appealing. Regardless of the reason, she is a threat. He cannot be allowed to have continued access to her. Barring making her a Guardian—which will_ _ **not**_ _happen—the only solution is to remove her from his reach._

 _We will leave it to you two to determine how best to go about this. We have offered you our opinion and advice but it is ultimately your decision._

The Guardians were quiet for a few moments before Marinette spoke quietly. "If it really is Lila in control…that makes her responsible for her actions. That means she's choosing to terrorize the city that makes her a—a…"

 _Terrorist?_

"…Yeah," she whispered. Sniffing, she said at normal volume, "And she shouldn't be allowed to just get away with it. I don't care what her reasoning is, this is beyond—"

"We can't tell anyone," Adrien blurted out, sounding horrified. "We can't. No matter what happens."

"Why not?"

"Because if Lila was in control of her actions then who's to say others weren't as well? You and I know for certain that they weren't but other people don't. Akuma victims could be blamed. There's already a stigma against the ones whose identities are known, we've seen it. Just think about what people will do if they find out there's a chance the person was acting of their own free will."

Marinette swore under her breath. After a moment, she nodded in agreement. "You're right," she said. For everyone else's sakes…they had to deal with Lila discreetly.

* * *

Marinette was awoken quite abruptly by a shout. Her eyes snapped open and in an instant she knew that she wasn't in her bed, the horizontal surface was far too uncomfortable to be a mattress, and that there was someone next to her. Someone familiar and warm who had their around her. In the next second, the arm was gone and the owner was leaping over her body with challenging cry. She heard a familiar metallic sound (Chat's baton?) and the shriek of a woman.

She twisted around and sat up on the lawn chair (?) and saw Chat (?) standing with his baton held threateningly at an unfamiliar woman, standing in the doorway. A flash of red caught her eye and she glanced down. Oh, she was Ladybug. Wait…

"OH MY GOD!" the woman yelled repeatedly in English.

Chat's ears were flat against his head but he lowered his baton when he realized they weren't in any danger. Ladybug couldn't help but feel flattered that Chat's first response had been to protect her. His baton retracted to its normal size and he returned it to its holster on his back then he sank down onto the lawn chair. Ladybug pulled her legs up to give him more room and patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Crashing on this balcony had been his idea. Volpina had struck again at exactly midnight, just when both heroes thought they were done for the night. At about two in the morning, both heroes were dead on their feet and miles from their homes. Chat had seen the small space several stories up with a lawn chair they could lay out on and Ladybug had agreed without protest. She remembered lying down and insisting Chat stop trying to be a gentleman or whatever and just get on the damn chair so he didn't have to sleep on the ground. She must've fallen asleep not long after.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir OH MY GOD."

"Please stop yelling," Chat pleaded in English, placing his hands over his human ears.

The young woman slapped her hand over her mouth and her screams ended abruptly. Chat sighed in relief. She lowered her hand a moment later. "Sorry."

"We're sorry for…" Ladybug paused to yawn and then gave her head a shake, trying to remember the right word in English. "…the intrusion."

"No, no!" the woman said quickly. "It's fine. I was just, y'know… I mean. It's _you_ and you're _here_ and you were trying to kill me and oh bloody hell—"

"Sorry," Chat apologized. "It's been a stressful day. Night. Ugh."

The woman looked between them for a moment and seemed to be deliberating something. "Would you like a cuppa?"

Both of them stared in confusion.

"A cup of tea," she clarified. "And breakfast?"

Chat sat up straighter and at that moment, Ladybug's stomach rumbled. She flushed in embarrassment.

The woman nodded. "Breakfast it is."

* * *

Five hours of sleep had helped a little but both heroes were still completely worn out. Their host, a British woman who told them to call her Frankie, had all but shoved them onto her couch and neither had the gall to refuse her offer of tea. She told them to drink up while she disappeared to get fresh bread.

She'd come back to find them both out cold and apparently decided to let them sleep until breakfast was ready. Of course, it was difficult to not attract the attention of two powerful noses when there's bacon frying and Frankie found that out the hard way. She turned away from the stove to check on the toast and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw two pairs of masked eyes peering around the corner.

Once she got her heart rate under control, Frankie told them to go back and wait for breakfast to finish and to make noise when they walked, for God's sake.

"Unbelievable," Chat Noir muttered in French as they left the kitchen. "We crash on her balcony, scare her to death, and she insists on feeding us."

"Shhh!" Ladybug hissed.

It wasn't safe discussing anything about their current predicament with Frankie in earshot as long as they weren't sure if she could speak French or not, and neither of them was in the mood for small talk, so they could do nothing but wait in silence for the food. When it did come, both French teenagers were momentarily at a loss. Frankie had gone all out and made them fried eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and two slices of buttered toast each.

Chat, at least, had had an English breakfast before, larger than this one, and realized that he'd almost been expecting a meal like this. Ladybug, however, couldn't help but gawk at the smorgasbord on her plate.

Frankie, clearly aware of what was throwing them off, snorted in amusement. "You French and your rubbish breakfasts. You can't be runnin' all about the place with nothing but cereal or whatever to keep you goin'. You need protein! So tuck in." She motioned to their plates and rolled her eyes.

Ladybug shrugged and reached for her fork. It may not have been breakfast food from their point of view, but food was food and they didn't exactly have very many options. Or time to spare. Chat hadn't gotten antsy again so she could only assume Volpina—Lila—wasn't active yet but that could and would change in an instant.

"Plus, Mum would kill me if she found out I had a pair of heroes in my flat and I didn't feed 'em right." Frankie muttered as she lifted the mug of tea to her mouth.

Chat Noir chuckled and swallowed the food in his mouth. "It's very good," he told her in English.

Frankie beamed at the praise. "Thanks."

"We won't intrude for much longer," Ladybug promised.

"Nah, it's fine. Reckon you two could do with a bit of a break anyway, what with you passin' out on my chair. Honestly, that couldn't have been comfortable. You must've been knackered."

"Na-what?"

"…Tired. Sorry." Frankie cringed. "In any case, I was watching the news a lot yesterday. You two have had a rough time and, uh, no offense, but you don't seem to have any idea what you're doing."

Ladybug's hand tightened on her fork and Chat's ears flattened.

"C'mon, can you blame me? Twelve attacks and you've not been able to do anything to stop her." Frankie paused. "No, wait. Thirteen now. But you get my point! She's got you running around in circles!"

Chat lowered his fork. "It's not like we aren't trying but all we can really do is react and hope we find her."

Frankie shook her head. "Not good enough and you know it. This girl, it's personal with her, yeah? I follow the Ladyblog, I saw the interview. You know who she is, don't you? Why don't you try her home?"

"We did," Ladybug sighed. "Her parents weren't there and we did not see her around. We don't even know if _they_ know Volpina is their daughter and…" she trailed off and frowned. She couldn't remember the words for what she needed. "Do you speak French?" she asked in her native language.

"A little," Frankie replied in the same. "Enough."

"We highly doubt they'll be able to tell us anything we don't already know." Ladybug went on, albeit more slowly than she'd normally speak. "And even if they were, they couldn't help effectively." With that, she went back to eating breakfast.

"I got about three-fourths of that," their hostess admitted in English. "But I understand. Still…you gotta do something. I know you can't talk about it with me but you need to get some help. …Before things get worse."

* * *

Bellies full, bodies rested, the heroes were leaving the apartment in better condition than when they'd arrived. Frankie had been a huge help, perhaps more than she'd realized, and they'd even managed to extract a promise of silence from her. It wouldn't be good for anyone to get wind of this, particularly Papillon.

"Y'know," Frankie said as they prepared to leap off her balcony. "The pair of you looked adorable all cozied up there on my couch. Shame I didn't think to get your picture. Worth framing, it was."

In her opinion, the identical blushes on both their faces was payment enough for the bed and breakfast.

* * *

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	23. Vingt Trois

Volpina's next attack came at 8am on the dot. She 'destroyed' Collège Francois-Dupont. The place where it would've all begun in her opinion. Of course, the building was quickly put to rights and the local citizens were soothed. (Ladybug tried to ignore the pointed stares of her parents from the sidelines.) It seemed like a pretty clear message to the heroes, especially when not fifteen minutes later, the high school Lila had attended met a similar fate. The last school to go went twenty minutes after that: School Lois Le Grande, Adrien's school.

Ladybug wanted to race off to check on Adrien immediately but Chat stopped her, insisting she talk to the swathes of media and police that had gathered while he went to check on Adrien. She had reluctantly agreed and was relieved when Chat returned ten minutes later and reported Adrien safe, sound, and asleep.

Attacking these three schools was an incredibly risky on Volpina's part. It was almost as if she was _daring_ someone to discover the connection between them and with it, her identity. What the hell was she playing at?

Ladybug thought Alya would be the first to put the pieces together. Her friend may not have known about Lila's akuma but between the timing of Volpina's appearances, the schools attacked, and the information they'd revealed in the interview a few days ago, it wouldn't take the shrewd blogger very long to make the connection. Ladybug just hoped Volpina would be down and dealt with before then. Alya would not hold something like that in for long.

"UGH." Ladybug growled in frustration as they sat on a rooftop near Lois Le Grande. "I should've never let her talk me into that stupid interview."

"Alya." Chat Noir said suddenly.

"No, the other nosy, pushy blogger who can't get enough of us."

"No, no, I mean _Alya_ can help!" He partner leaped to his feet. "She has access to news, social media, and the reports to her blog. Why the hell didn't I think of this earlier? With her coordinating, we might stand a chance! She can be our Oracle!"

Ladybug cocked her head to the side. "Who?"

"Y'know…Oracle…Barbra Gordon?"

Ladybug blinked.

Chat's expression fell. "Batman?"

"I never liked Batman."

Chat groaned in exasperation. "My _Laaaadddyyyy_."

Ladybug shrugged. "Sorry. Too dark and American for me."

He sighed and shook his head. His mouth twisted as he thought about it for a moment then he perked up and snapped his fingers. "Wade from Kim Possible?"

"Oh my God, Chat Noir."

* * *

Alya about died when she got a call from Ladybug. There hadn't been a number or any other form of identification on her display so she almost hadn't answered. Fortunately, curiosity had won out. They would've shown up in her room either way but at least they weren't going to give her a heart attack by showing up unannounced.

"How do you know where the Ladyblogger lives?" Chat Noir asked curiously.

"Marinette," she replied. "They're best friends. I figured it'd be a good idea if you and I didn't go swinging around her house if we could help it. I don't know which room is hers, though, which is why I told her to leave her window open for us."

Alya was bouncing in her seat anxiously when Chat Noir alighted on the rail outside her window.

Ladybug hung back on the opposite roof at his insistence. There was a chance Volpina could've targeted Alya and laid a trap for them. Normally she wouldn't let him needlessly put himself at risk when she was perfectly capable of handling herself but she agreed to put him at ease. His doom sense had him all worked up and if making sure it was safe would help him then she wasn't about to protest. He disappeared into the room, leaving Ladybug to wait anxiously. After a long minute, he reappeared at the window and beckoned to her. Ladybug nodded, threw her yo-yo, and swung down into Alya's room.

Alya had done more than just leave her window open in preparation for the heroes' arrival. Her door was locked with a chair wedged underneath the knob to deter even the most persistent of her siblings. Her floor was also clear and Ladybug was willing to bet that the usual mess had been hastily crammed under the bed and in drawers. It was strange being in her friend's room with the mask on, it made her feel out of place. She didn't like it.

"I am so sorry!" Alya blurted out. "I had no idea that interview would set her off or I wouldn't have asked you to do it!"

Chat Noir waved her off. "Don't worry, we didn't either or we wouldn't have answered your questions."

"It's on all of us," Ladybug said. "Although, ultimately, it's her own fault."

Alya didn't seem convinced but she decided to drop it. "You said you need my help?"

"Yes. If today is anything like yesterday then we're going to be running around all over the place and the news in combination with social media will be too much to handle. We couldn't rely on them yesterday."

Alya nodded. "You need someone to help you sort through the noise and determine which sightings are real, which reports are real, and any information being released on the news channels. Okay, I get it. But why me?"

"Because you can be discreet," Ladybug said. "And we're expecting you to. No one can ever know we were here, you can never tell anyone you helped us. If we go to the police then we admit openly that we can't handle this and we'll look weak or incompetent. That's what Volpina wants."

She nodded again. "Got it."

"There's also a…" Chat pursed his lips in frustration for a moment. "We have to be very careful. There's something different about Volpina this time, at least we think there is, and if we're right, it could really screw things up for akuma victims, past and future."

Alya's eyes widened. "How?" she asked flatly.

Chat glanced at Ladybug and she shook her head.

"Oh, c'mon, that's not fair. I'm one of them!"

Ladybug shook her head again. "I'm sorry but no."

Alya frowned and folded her arms. "Fine. Keep things on the down low. But I don't see how this is going to help you catch her, though, since you can't predict where she'll be."

"We can…sort of."

"I have an ability that allows me to sense impending disasters," Chat explained. "And Volpina's actions have the potential to cause mayhem and destruction. It's still very new, though, so I'm only getting vague impressions of which way they'll be in around the time they happen. But it's not enough. We're hoping that maybe if you can keep track of the sightings we might be able to figure things out from that.

"If we could just find the real her or even just a place she's been, it'll help," Ladybug went on. "The problem is, she never stays in one place very long and we never have time to search the area around her attacks extensively enough before we have to run off again."

The blogger nodded again, slowly this time, brow furrowed in thought. "I…have an idea. It involves bringing someone else in, though."

The Guardians glanced at each other uneasily. "Who?" Chat asked. "And are they trustworthy?"

"His name is Max, I went to collège with him. He's trustworthy and he's really good with numbers, data, statistics…all that stuff. He might be able to help us predict where she'll hit next. I can call him."

Chat looked at Ladybug and they both nodded. "Alright," she said. "Do it. But that's it. No one else."

* * *

" _Hey, Alya. I wasn't expecting this. What's up?"_

" _Hey, Max. We need your help."_

" _Sure, what's up?"_

" _Don't freak out…okay?"_

He did anyway.

* * *

They got wind of another incident at around 10:30 am, surprising both of them since Chat hadn't sensed anything. She'd set a park on fire and the fire department had things well in hand long before it even made news. There was nothing for Ladybug and Chat Noir to do and since the fire was three arrondissements away, they decided to save their energy.

Max was all too willing to help Paris's heroes. He really thought they should go to the cops but he respected their decision not to. Predicting Volpina's next target in a city this big was going to be difficult but he was certainly up to a challenge. His mother wasn't letting him leave the house, though, so it all had to be done over Skype. The first thing he did was make a list of all the confirmed attack locations, which he then marked on a map on his tablet, along with the approximate times. From there, he had Alya go back through her blog and relay every reported Volpina sighting. Ladybug and Chat Noir pitched in occasionally there with details on their encounters with her duplicates.

He also asked things like how fast they could run on the ground and how fast they could move on the rooftops and was surprised at their answers. Actually, surprised was a bit of an understatement. He dropped his pencil and leaned in closer to the screen as if to see them better.

" _Get out,"_ he said flatly _. "No way."_ They both nodded and Chat grinned smugly. _"Those_ _ **Olympic**_ _speeds. Have you ever been clocked?"_

"More or less," Chat replied. Technically their kwami had told them but Max didn't need to know that. "We can make it from Hôtel de Ville to the Louvre in about two minutes if we're really gunning it."

Max's mouth worked silently for a few seconds. _"How? Are you both professional athletes? Were you specially trained?! Where the heck are you hiding those muscles?!"_

"They're heroes, Max," Alya reminded him, sounding breathless. She eyed the two Guardians sitting on her bed with newfound respect.

" _How much can you lift!?"_ Max demanded.

The Guardians considered this question for a moment. They knew they had enhanced strength but they'd never exactly gotten a number on that one. "I picked up a car yesterday, we flipped a bus upright together, so uh…I'd say a ton at least," Chat mused.

Ladybug nodded. "Sounds about right."

Alya made a quiet, rasping sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a squeak. Max looked ready to fall out of his chair.

" _That's impossible,"_ Max said firmly. _"The strongest man alive has only lifted approximately 524 kilograms and he's had years of training. You look like you couldn't bench press me."_

Chat's expression went completely flat and then he arched one eyebrow. But he didn't take the bait. "I don't see how this helps us find Volpina."

Max stared at them for a few seconds and shook his head slowly. _"What you're saying is. Not. Possible."_

"For you," Ladybug countered. "Imagine something powerful enough to level a city in less than a day. Imagine that you had to stop it. Both of you, together, as you are now, and no one else would come to help you. Could you do it?"

Alya shook her head.

"We can." Chat Noir said. "Because we can do the impossible."

Ladybug ghosted her fingers across her earrings. "Why do you think Papillon wants these so badly?"

"Aesthetic," Alya deadpanned.

Chat snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Genius. But _still_ not seeing how this helps us find Volpina."

Max shook his head quickly. _"Fine. Alright. Knowing her previous targets tells us a lot about how she thinks, how long she goes between attacks, and what she looks for in a potential target. Knowing how fast you two can run will allow me to predict how long it will take you to reach a destination or possibly intercept her. If she can move as fast as you then it also tells us how long it should take her to reach her next target. All of these things will allow me to predict where she'll hit. So far she seems to be favoring tourist hotspots, places with a lot of people."_

"Unsurprising," Ladybug replied. "She wants to humiliate us, she's desperate for attention, and she needs an audience for both."

"She's trying to draw as many eyes as possible," Alya realized. "She's probably building up to something."

Chat Noir nodded grimly. "Yeah, that's what we were thinking. My money's on the Eiffel Tower. It's the most famous landmark we have."

At 11:10am, Chat Noir let out a quiet groan and pressed the heels of his hands to his temples. Ladybug was at his side immediately. "What is it?"

Chat wordlessly removed one hand from his head and pointed out the window.

"What's happening?" Alya asked, echoed by Max's concerned, "Is he okay?"

"Volpina's about to make a move," Ladybug explained. "And it'll be in the direction he pointed. …Southwest, I think."

"South?" Max repeated. He bent over his tablet. He muttered to himself a few times over the course of a minute. Alya glanced between the computer screen and her bed where Chat Noir sat and Ladybug was rubbing his shoulder soothingly.

" _Place Denfer Rochereau_."

"Are you sure?" Chat asked, looking up.

Max nodded. "So far she's hit mostly big, crowded places. Landmarks. Tourist hotspots. Places that will garner the most attention and cause the most panic. I don't know what the deal is with the attacks on those schools, but the park she attacked is between the last school and the lion. _Denfer Rochereau_ is the only thing worth attacking that way that fits her style."

"We'll never make it there in time," Chat said, pulling his staff out.

"No but I can warn people to keep an eye out." Alya spun around her chair and immediately began to make a new post on the blog. "Call me when you get there. Hopefully I'll have something.

"Alya, you're the best." Ladybug told her. Alya preened, fingers clacking away at the keyboard.

The heroes took off out the window.

* * *

 **Max: DO U EVEN LIFT BRO?**


	24. Vingt Quatre

Both Max and Chat Noir had been right. Volpina was long gone by the time they arrived at _Place Denfer Rochereau_ but the lion wasn't. The famous statue was up and prowling around, roaring at at civilians, and generally making a nuisance of itself. It was also very apt at dodging the various items being thrown its way by the braver Parisians.

While Chat went to deal with that, Ladybug called Alya for an update. Her BFF was already aware of what was happening and Max was apparently quite smug about being right. There were several reports of Volpina fleeing the scene and heading west. Assuming she could run as fast as them, she could be halfway to the Eiffel Tower by now, and no sightings reported afterwards could be taken without a grain of salt.

"That doesn't matter. West tells me plenty," Ladybug told her.

" _But how can you find her? She could've gone into hiding, Max says there are at least three obvious targets that way she hasn't hit yet, and there are probably half a dozen clones!"_

The corner of Ladybug's mouth turned up in a smirk. Had Alya been able to see her face and recognize her features, she would have known it was Marinette in an instant. "Do you know what a real body has that an illusion doesn't?"

"… _No?"_

"A scent."

* * *

Never, in all the times when she and Chat had practiced scent tracking, had Ladybug thought she might one day use it to hunt an akuma. There was something inherently funny about a bug and a cat hunting a fox. All it had taken was one whiff of the place she had stood while casting the illusion to bring the lion to life and they were after her like hounds.

There was no way Volpina could have known they would be able to track her scent. Even if she did, she would've had to try very hard to take countermeasures and someone in her position didn't have that kind of time. She couldn't fly and she lacked a weapon to propel herself, severely limiting the routes she could take as well as her ability to go great distances without touching a rooftop or the ground.

In the distance, the Eiffel Tower grew steadily taller and her scent trail indicated she was making a beeline for it. Chat had already begun to sense something looming. They had to reach the tower before noon. Ladybug was almost certain that was when Volpina would strike. The largest landmark in Paris at exactly midday: it fit her style. A call to Alya only confirmed her suspicions. Though there were similar reports from different arrondissements, Volpina had been spotted lurking in the vicinity of the tower.

"Chat," Ladybug panted. "You keep following her scent. Find her."

"And where…are you going?"

"Ahead to the tower. I'm going to get as many people away as I can, keep Volpina's eyes on me if I'm lucky. It's me she wants; it's always been me."

Chat nodded once and did not argue. "What do I do if I get her?"

"Break her flute and don't let her escape," she ordered. "Knock her out if you have to."

" _Compri!"_

* * *

There weren't nearly as many people in the vicinity of the tower as normal. A majority of Parisians and visitors alike were laying low until this blew over. The braver ones or those who had run out of fucks to give were still out and about, so there were approximately one hundred people within a block of the tower.

It would never cease to amaze her just how much power and influence she had over people. A few words from her and those who hadn't intended to let an akuma prevent them from enjoying the city were sent scurrying. Of course, these same people had phones and social media and within a few minutes of her arrival, police began showing up. Then the news. An audience for Volpina, one Ladybug wouldn't be able to frighten away.

Sabrina's father, Lieutenant Roger, was at the head of the forces arriving to patrol the area. Ladybug had seen him several times over the last twenty-four hours and had only spoken to him once. He especially would be nigh on impossible to convince to abandon his post. This was the same man who'd tried to hold Chat Noir prisoner on suspicion of theft. His love of his job and the law had been a factor in his akumatization and he'd always gone out of his way to protect this city and its people.

"The mayor would like to speak to you when this is all over," he told her when she got close enough to him.

"I'm sure he does," she muttered.

Lieutenant Roger gave her an appraising look. "You're sure she'll be here?"

"No. But I have a hunch."

He hummed noncommittally and his gaze swept across the grassy area near the tower. "They want us to arrest her."

Ladybug tensed but she kept her expression carefully neutral. His tone was light, almost detached. He could've been talking about the weather. _It's going to rain tomorrow. They want to arrest an akuma._ "Do they?"

He nodded.

"You were an akuma once."

"I was."

"You held the city hostage."

He glanced at her. "That's what I hear."

"You weren't responsible for your actions."

"And neither is Volpina."

 _I wouldn't be so sure,_ she thought with a scowl. Then her eyebrows shot towards her hairline as she realized exactly what he'd said. Schooling her features, she replied, "You don't want to arrest her."

"I don't see what good it will do. Unless they're trying to appease the public but all it will do in the long run is ruin her life." He shrugged. "Of course, it's hard to arrest someone if you don't know their identity. It's a good thing you're going to be freeing her out here in the open where everyone can see. If you were to do it, say, out of sight, we would never know who she is." Lieutenant Roger looked down at her. His expression and tone were conversational but his eyes bore intently into hers. "We couldn't do anything."

"That'd be a shame…" Ladybug murmured. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Part of her wanted Lila arrested. She deserved to face justice for her crimes against the city. Ladybug hated knowing that Lila would essentially get away with it but there were people's lives at stake here. She would keep silent for their sakes.

Suddenly, her communicator rang. Lieutenant Roger looked down at her hip then at her face. Ladybug smiled and reached for her yo-yo, popped it open, and pressed it to her ear. "Chat Noir?"

" _I found her,"_ he said under his breath. _"She's watching you. 5 o'clock, building with the red roof. She's hiding behind a fake chimney."_

Ladybug turned just enough that she would be able to see the building out of the corner of her eye and walked away from Lieutenant Roger. "Is she?" she replied casually. "That's good. And you?"

" _Three rooftops away."_

"Can you get to her?"

" _I think so. I need you to keep her eyes on you, though."_

"No problem. Good luck."

* * *

Ladybug pointed at the Eiffel Tower and said something to the tall officer—he thought it might be Sabrina's father—while gesturing wildly. He nodded and lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth. Chat couldn't hear what he said from this far away but it must've been an order to mobilize the troops because seconds later, the police officers who had been idling around were suddenly racing towards the tower.

Volpina perked up curiously and tightened her hand on her flute. All her attention was now focused ahead and she didn't have the senses to detect him.

 _Good job, milady._

Chat began creeping towards her.

Volpina lifted her flute to her mouth. He used the cover of her song to leap to the next rooftop and quickly ducked behind a chimney. The music stopped. He peered out a moment later. The real Volpina remained crouched behind the roof but a duplicate now stood beside her. Without a word from either, the illusion leaped into the air, morphing into a ball of orange, and flew towards the tower.

He smirked and slunk towards her again. The fake Volpina alighted on the tower and began screaming for Ladybug to face her. The Guardian, however, was nowhere in sight.

Only one rooftop away now. Chat extended his baton to fighting length and set the end against the shingles, careful not to make a noise as he did. Volpina did not even twitch. Gripping it tightly, he took a deep breath and launched himself at her.

* * *

It was immensely satisfying to see Volpina on the ground, hands tied behind her back with her own tail. Her flute was broken and discarded, trapped in a nearby gutter, and utterly useless. Chat Noir stood over her, arms folded, chin raised proudly, and tail flicking idly behind him. He was the very picture of smugness as she approached.

Ladybug rewarded him with an affectionate scratch underneath his chin and a, " _Bien joué, chaton._ " He leaned into the gesture with a quiet chuckle and a proud smile on his face.

Volpina glared at them with disgust and her eyes never left Ladybug as she knelt down in front of her. Ladybug reached out and slid her hand underneath the necklace. She'd always thought Volpina's corrupted item was curious. Normally they were dark purplish or black, like Destruction's orb in the kwami's visions, or warped in some way from their original form but Volpina's necklace was exactly the same as it had always been.

"I hate you!" Volpina spat.

Ladybug raised her eyebrows. "You need help, Lila."

"I'll keep coming back," she warned. "Every time he sends me an akuma, I'll take it."

Both Guardians were silent. Ladybug's hand tightened on the necklace and then she turned her head. Meeting Chat's eyes, she saw her own shock and horror mirrored there. It really was her. Everything, all the chaos, was _Lila's_ doing.

"Lila, do you know what all akuma have in common?" Chat Noir asked curtly.

"They all hate you?"

"No. They all, every last one of them, get furious when called by their real name. They deny it and assert their akuma identity."

Volpina's brow furrowed in uncertainly.

Ladybug yanked the necklace from her neck and snapped it in two with her hands. The hateful little butterfly fluttered free and she rose to her feet to perform the cleansing.

 _WAIT!_ Tikki cried. _It's Chat's turn to learn!_

That's right, it was! Ladybug whipped around. "Chat—"

Plagg was evidently already a step ahead of her because Chat's head was cocked to the side in the way it always did when he was listening intently. After a moment, he nodded, rolled his shoulders, and leaped into the air after the butterfly. He caught it in his hands and landed lightly on the roof a few meters away. He turned around, eyes squeezed shut in concentration.

"I…feel it," he muttered after a moment. He blinked his eyes open. "What? …Okay."

She was anxious to see how he purified the akuma. Would it be with his baton or some power she was unaware of?

Chat Noir began to slowly pull his hands apart. Dark energy swirled around his hands like two tiny storms, growing bigger the further they got from the akuma. The butterfly itself was quickly turning white as the Corruption seeped out of its body. When his hands were about a foot apart, the pure white butterfly fluttered away into the sky.

"Bye-bye little butterfly," Ladybug called out of habit.

 _You will have to help him now,_ Tikki warned her in her mind. Chat Noir puffed in exertion. _He has to be taught a purification spell in order to complete the job. Your yo-yo is imbued with a similar spell already but he will have to do it manually. Until then—_

Ladybug didn't wait to hear what else Tikki had to say. She whipped out her yo-yo and stepped around Volpina. She slid her finger along the surface to open it and held it out to Chat. He opened his eyes, gave her a grateful smile, and fed the first mass of inky purple energy into the light within her yo-yo. Then the second. The yo-yo clicked shut of its own accord. Chat doubled over, hands on his knees.

Ladybug backed away from him and threw her hand into the air with the familiar cry, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

* * *

In perhaps the biggest letdown of the century, Volpina's ultimate downfall occurred in secret. There was no one present to bear witness other than the Guardians themselves. No news, no cameras, no police—no audience. In a way, that in itself was punishment. She would not get her final word in, she would not have one last chance to prove their worthlessness, she wouldn't even get the honor of a final showdown. No one would know her.

The Guardians would make sure of it.

* * *

There was no disorientation, no questions of where she was or what had happened. The only change in Lila was that her costume melted away. Her eyes retained their hatred, her expression remained disgusted, and she still glared up at the heroes. Even though she was no longer bound, she was smart enough not to run. Nevertheless, Chat kept an eye on her even as he doubled over from the exertion of pulling the corruption from the akuma.

"You know you're a terrorist, right?" Ladybug asked her idly. She was too calm. That wasn't good. Ladybug was a very emotional person. His father his his anger behind icy tones and calm expressions and it spooked him to hear see it on his lady as well. Chat Noir straightened up.

Lila's anger melted into confusion. "What?"

"You're a terrorist," Ladybug repeated. "You intentionally caused harm and mayhem to Paris and its citizens for your own agenda. And you did it in your right mind. I don't know why Papillon left you in control…and to be honest, I really hoped Chat was wrong about it."

Lila's eyes flicked to Chat Noir then back to Ladybug but there was fear now where there had been hatred. "You can't prove it."

He wanted to pity her. He really did. Something had happened in Lila's life to make her this way. Her parents had to have been neglectful or failed somehow. He knew that their careers had been one of the only things she'd been honest about. Diplomats were probably busier than fashion moguls, they may not have had time to give their daughter the attention she needed. The lessons she needed. Moving from place to place, she probably had trouble making and keeping friends. He could empathize with her in that respect, like it or not.

But where had her lies started? What had lead her here? What had turned her into someone so vindictive that they were willing to endanger a city to get back at someone who had yelled at her once?

Empathy he could give her but sympathy he would not.

"Oh, we can." Chat Noir promised her. "And you'd deserve whatever punishment they gave you. But we're not going to."

She gawked at him. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Because unlike you, we're capable of thinking of others." Ladybug's voice was like ice, cold, sharp, and unforgiving. "And we don't let a desire for revenge control us. But don't think for even a second that we're doing it for your sake."

* * *

They put Lila down in a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower with naught but a stern warning to keep her mouth shut and her head down if she valued her freedom. Ladybug did not return the necklace to her.

A call to Alya to inform her the deed was done and Volpina was gone…then it was over. Nearly 24 hours after the Louvre had been marched on, they had won. And, god, were they exhausted. They agreed to take a few days off from patrols, they were to text each other if they needed something, and their kwamis deserved small feasts.

Yet as tired as they were, they were reluctant to go their separate ways. They'd been together almost nonstop for nearly a day, eaten together, slept side by side, and woken up curled around each other. A break certainly was in order. Even so, Ladybug did not pull away from their goodbye hug after they'd fallen silent and Chat's arms only tightened around her.

Volpina was gone, perhaps for good now, but they weren't stupid enough to think this was the end of it. The police and likely the mayor had wanted to see Lila in chains and behind bars and they had been denied that. There would be hell to pay and neither Guardian was certain they could convince them to see reason, not without exposing things that were best kept within the minds of the kwamis' Chosen.

There was also still the chance that someone would make the link between the schools.

"What will you do with the necklace?" Chat asked softly. Her hair, still in its pigtails, tickled his nose.

"Melt it, probably," Ladybug replied after a moment. They had a theory, and it was only a theory since the kwami had no reference from which to base their input, that the object corrupted was as much of a part of the akuma as the person was. If this held true, then Lila could never again become Volpina. "I just hope we're right."

Chat sighed and didn't respond.

"Any idea what you'll tell your family?"

He chuckled nervously. "I'm working on it. I'm probably screwed though. Eternal punishment and a lecture from hell screwed. On second thought, can I just come with you? I'm housebroken, I promise, and I've had all my shots."

Ladybug giggled. She pulled against his hold and, with a sigh, Chat loosened his grip. Then, to his complete and utter shock, she leaned in and placed a lingering kiss to his cheek. Heat bloomed where her lips made contact alarmingly fast and spread across his entire face. "Go home, _minou_ ," she told him tenderly. "Even if you get grounded for life, you'll still have me."

Breathing was important. He should probably do that.

Air whooshed into his lungs shakily and he cleared his throat. For fuck's sake, what was wrong with him? She'd kissed his _cheek_! Alya had kissed his cheek once and he hadn't been like this! Of course, he wasn't ridiculously in love with her so that could've been a contributing factor. Oh God. He was staring.

Ladybug grinned at him like she knew exactly what she'd done to his mental state and he decided to take his chances. A kiss for a kiss, it was only fair. So he ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek as well.

"I'll see you soon, my lady," he whispered against her skin.

* * *

 ** _oh là là..._**

 **I wrote a little one-shot featuring Frankie that's posted on my tumblr (/post/147279632717/) if anyone is interested.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	25. Vingt Cinq

Marinette got an earful from her parents. After Ladybug had "dropped her off" on her balcony, she'd descended into the living room where her parents were waiting anxiously. The bakery, like many shops in Paris, had remained closed for the day, and her parents had had nothing to do since they woke up except wait. They were angry at her for disappearing without a word and she apologized over and over. They were confused as to how she'd become friends with the heroes of Paris and why she'd never said anything to them. They were annoyed how the heroes had swept her away without so much as considering them until hours later. Mostly they were relieved to have her back.

If ever the heroes decided they needed her "help" again, she was absolutely to inform them as soon as possible. No buts.

"That's not why they took me," Marinette grumbled. She'd known that Ladybug's excuse would only go so far and it left a lot of questions unanswered. There was also a risk that Alya would tell Marinette what she'd done for Ladybug and Chat Noir and her parents would overhear. "There was a chance Volpina might have had it out for me so they decided to keep me safe. I only was helping yesterday because I insisted they give me something to do."

Her parents were horrified. "What do you mean?!" Sabine demanded.

"Why would an akuma be after you?"

It should've disturbed her how easily she could deceive her parents but, honestly, after nearly two years of being a hero, it just didn't.

Marinette looked away guiltily. "You can't tell anyone, okay? It could be very bad. But I, uh, I know who Volpina is. Papa…do you remember last year when we told you about that girl who lied about Adrien?"

* * *

Adrien, by pure coincidence, had come up with a similar cover story on his way home.

He de-transformed in his bathroom and motioned for Plagg to keep quiet just in case someone was in his room. Good thing, too, because when he emerged from the bathroom, his father was sitting on his couch. Adrien was shocked for all of three seconds before Gabriel turned around and his blood ran cold. Oh, he was in _trouble_. Bye-bye freedom, bye-bye secret identity, bye-bye everything.

"You're safe," Gabriel said simply.

He stood up and walked around the couch towards Adrien and pulled him into a firm hug, the likes of which he hadn't received since the incident with Jackady. It took Adrien several seconds before he could think clearly enough to respond. He was just getting all sorts of affection today. Gabriel pulled back quickly and Adrien tried not to mourn the loss of the brief paternal warmth.

Now the anger would come. Now the scolding, the chastising, and the questions Adrien hoped he was prepared for. His father was calm. It almost scared him more than it would have if he'd been livid.

" _Père…_ "

"I'm glad you're safe," Gabriel told him. "And I know you couldn't have possibly been on your own all this time or have gotten back in on your own, so do you mind explaining to me where you've been since yesterday afternoon?"

"I…Volpina. Ladybug and Chat Noir were afraid she'd come after me since she did last time. Before they even went to confront her at the Louvre they decided to get me some place safe. I'm sorry, they didn't give me time to even leave a note. I don't even know what happened to my phone. I'm so sorry."

Gabriel gave him a long, hard stare. Adrien swallowed nervously and it took all his willpower not to shrink back. "And you came out of the bathroom, why…?"

"Chat Noir just dropped me off."

His father hummed. "I see. Well. Next time the heroes of Paris decide to put you in their witness protection program, tell them that they need to have the courtesy of informing Nathalie or your bodyguard. You have a schedule, akuma or no akuma, and you at least need to give Nathalie a chance to reschedule your commitments if necessary."

Adrien was neither impressed nor amused by his father's priorities. Honestly, if he'd known Volpina wasn't going down that easily, he would have left a note or something.

"Also, your phone." Gabriel produced Adrien's cell phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to him. "It was found on the floor by your bed. See to it that it remains on you as well next time."

He bit back a sigh. "Yes, _Père_."

"Good. Make sure you eat lunch. I can't imagine they fed you while they were running around Paris."

As if to prove his father's point, Adrien's stomach rumbled.

* * *

As anticipated, things did not simply blow over. The mayor held a press conference that very same day to confirm the reports that Volpina had been defeated. He also 'regretfully' informed the citizens of Paris that her identity remained unknown at that time due. Finally, requested Ladybug and Chat Noir's presence as soon as possible.

Before the broadcast was even over, Ladybug received a text from Chat Noir. It was a photoshopped French Grumpy Cat with the caption: 'Non."

The next morning when her parents weren't looking, Marinette tossed Lila's necklace into the oven and shut the door.

A few hours later, the Ladyblog updated with a new post from Alya. She was requesting another interview with them about some interesting information she'd learned yesterday and Marinette sighed. That honestly had taken longer than she'd thought. She sent Chat Noir a text about the post and promised to take care of it before she transformed and went to visit her best friend.

* * *

"I know who Volpina is," Alya said without preamble.

"Wow. Not wasting any time are you?" Ladybug shook her head. "It was the schools, wasn't it?"

Alya nodded. "The collège where I went, but also where Adrien and Lila went, then Adrien's lycée, and Lila's lycée. Considering how she looks and the timing of each of her appearances, it just made sense."

"Idiot," she muttered. "She was practically _daring_ someone to figure it out. But I can count on one hand the number of people who would've been able to make the connection."

Alya nodded to herself. "Adrien, Marinette, myself, Nino…"

"Adrien and Marinette already knew."

She gawked. "They _did_?!"

Ladybug nodded. "Lila's lies began this mess. Has either one of them ever told you that she tried to turn him against Marinette?"

"Marinette did once…but she never mentioned Volpina…" Alya trailed off, expression unsure.

"Out of respect, probably," Ladybug said. "And then, of course, Volpina went after Adrien last autumn. If he didn't know before that, he certainly did then."

"Why haven't any of you gone to the police? They want to know who she is."

Ladybug shook her head sadly. "What good would it do? Lila is a horrible person but she does not deserve what they would do to her. She hates me. The only thing I can do at this point to be the better person is to save her from being a scapegoat."

Alya cocked her head to the side. "Why does she hate you? Or, I mean, why do you have such a grudge against her? There seems to be some strong mutual dislike."

"Noticed that, did you?" She closed her eyes. "…The day that Lila tried to turn Adrien on Marinette, I overheard their conversation. She told him she was one of us. A Miraculous user. But I knew she was lying. …I was hasty. Cruel, even. I yelled at her in front of him." Opening her eyes, she was met with Alya's expression of shock. "I was willing to let her other lies stand. I assumed the truth would reveal itself. …But claiming a mantle she had no right to…" She clenched her fists and shook her head. "It's insulting."

"Maybe she didn't consider that?" Alya suggested timidly.

"I don't care. I…" Ladybug trailed off for a moment, considering. She'd always wanted to tell Alya the truth but she'd promised Tikki she never would and it…honestly felt wrong to do so. Best friend or not, Alya was an _outsider_ and how could she justify showing her but not her own partner? Ladybug sighed. "This isn't for fun. This isn't a gig. It's my duty. I'll always be Ladybug and I mean until the day I die. Chat Noir is exactly the same. We can take our masks off but we can never escape it."

"But…you're just superheroes. I don't understand. People pretend to be superheroes all the time."

Ladybug shook her head. "A long time ago, humans really messed up. They got greedy and nearly destroyed everything. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and all the others like us exist to undo the mistakes of the past. We all were given the choice and we all willingly devoted our lives to this. Whatever else we may do, our duties as heroes will always have to come first. And then… _Lila_ ," she hissed, "decided to pretend to be one of us to deceive a poor, lonely boy who idolized us. She reduced us to a ploy and who knows what it would've done to him in the end?!"

She was fuming by the time she was finished, hands clenched into fists. Power radiated from her, causing Alya's hairs to stand on end.

Up until that very moment, Alya had always considered Chat Noir to be the dangerous one of the two. He was a dark, imposing figure. With his feline features, dark suit, and those wicked expressions he would make in battle, every part of him screamed that he was a force to be reckoned with. Ladybug, in contrast, was smooth and gentle, light where he was dark, healing, and unwaveringly good.

Ladybug was dangerous. Not dark, but dangerous. And she had been grievously insulted.

"I'm sorry," Alya apologized even though she had done nothing wrong herself. "I didn't know…"

"No," Ladybug sighed, deflating. "No one does. …I should go."

She turned away from her friend and walked towards the window.

"You're never going to take the mask off, are you?" Alya asked behind her. "You're never going to show us who you are, even after you defeat Papillon."

Ladybug paused and glanced over her shoulder. She shook her head. "Never. Our identities are what keep us safe."

"What would happen if…?"

"…We'd probably be killed."

Alya let out a horrified gasp and the slap of her hand against her mouth reverberated throughout the room. Ladybug sighed quietly. A moment passed in silence.

"Then I'll stop," her best friend decided aloud.

Ladybug's jaw dropped and she whipped around. Alya _loved_ puzzling over the latest Ladybug theories, it was one of her favorite things to do. She even dragged Marinette into it sometimes. She'd known Alya would stop one day, either because she grew bored of it or because Ladybug had moved on, but she'd never expected her to simply just quit. To give up one of her favorite hobbies willingly and without being asked.

"I'm not deleting my blog," she went on quickly. "If I did it would scare a lot of people and I think we both know it's useful. But the identity theories page will go. Tonight. I promise."

"You can't ever say why," Ladybug warned. "Nothing I told you can ever leave this room. If Papillon thinks you know anything about our secrets, he might come after you. Your family could get hurt."

Alya furrowed her brow and nodded. For all she complained about her siblings, she would fight an akuma herself it kept them safe.

"And no matter what you may hear…keep Lila's secret as well."

* * *

 **NON.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	26. Vingt Six

**In which they have words with the mayor.**

* * *

For his second year of lycée, Adrien would be attending the same school as Marinette, Alya, and Nino. They were utterly floored! His father was actually allowing him to leave his prestigious school for their average one.

The kicker was that Adrien hadn't even asked.

He'd been prepared to suffer in silence for the next few years. School wasn't all that bad. The material was challenging and the teachers were nice but the students were…well. Not all of them were bad. In fact some were great! He'd just never realized how patient Nino must have been in order to be his friend or how lucky he was Nino had been there to break the ice and bridge the gap left by his inadequate social skills. That bridge was hard to cross by himself. He couldn't blame his peers, either. It was difficult to be friends with someone whose days were strictly planned and scheduled, whose father wouldn't allow sleepovers or many house visits period, who couldn't just 'hang out' whenever; someone who had to sneak off to battle akuma and spent nights patrolling the city. As a result, he had people he spoke to and worked with when possible, but he didn't really have…friends.

His father called him into his office just a few days after Volpina's defeat and asked him if he was happy at his school. Not if he enjoyed the courses, if the teachers and curriculum were adequate, if he felt he wasn't being challenged…his father wanted to know if he was _happy_. Adrien wasn't quite sure what to do or say. His father hadn't inquired after his happiness since…he wasn't even sure how long it had been. He'd always just assumed Adrien was content or didn't care.

He decided he couldn't waste the opportunity and told the truth. "No."

Gabriel's next question threw him for a loop. "Would you be happier if you were with your friends?"

"Yes," Adrien blurted out before he could do something stupid like squeak or fall out of his chair.

His father was quiet for a long minute. He seemed to be sizing Adrien up, taking in every detail in front of him. Then, at long last, he nodded. "Then I will have Nathalie make the arrangements to have you transferred, but I expect you to maintain top marks in all your studies."

Adrien did never find out why his father had a sudden change of heart. He didn't much care to press the issue, either. He would just appreciate it.

Nino, Alya, and Marinette wholeheartedly agreed. Loudly. And with great enthusiasm.

* * *

"You're happy this evening," Ladybug noted as they bounded across the rooftops, Chat Noir running on all fours like his namesake. He hadn't stopped smiling since he'd arrived which she found odd considering their destination.

"I got some awesome news today!" Chat explained. "Probably the best all year!"

Ladybug smiled, thinking of the other blonde boy in her life. "Me too," she agreed. As far as good news went, Adrien going to school with her again was pretty stellar.

"Really?" He threw a grin in her direction before they leaped across the open air between buildings.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this, then." Ladybug suggested when they landed. "I mean, if we're both having such good days, why ruin it?"

They knew they had to have a chat with the mayor eventually. He had passive aggressively been inviting them to do exactly that on live TV, but they knew that there would be a big media buzz when they did and they weren't sure they were ready to fan the flames stoked by Volpina. There were already people questioning the effectiveness of the heroes. True, Volpina had been defeated, but they'd allowed her to strike over a dozen times before taking her down. Thankfully, no one was aware that they'd sought outside help. Neither Alya nor Max was talking and Frankie had not gone public about finding them in what surely had been in intimate embrace as they'd slept on her balcony. They were extremely fortunate.

Somehow, Chat had learned that Mayor Bourgeois was working late into the night every day this week since Volpina's demise. Under the cover of night, they would be easily able to slip into his office to have a chat with him about circumstances and events. They were just worried how he was going to take their arrival or their decision. Bourgeois was not the brightest man. True he cared for his city but sometimes he seemed a bit drunk on his power. Neither enjoyed working in proximity to him.

Chat Noir's smile slipped but he did not slow down. "No. We can't put this off forever. Things will only get worse the longer we wait."

Ladybug sighed and didn't argue. They'd put off this conversation partially because they wanted a break but also because they'd wanted to make it clear that they were not at Mayor Bourgeois's beck and call. She wouldn't put it past the man to do something drastic if that was what it took to get their attention, though. Chat was right. Better just get it over with.

* * *

"Security here is shit," Chat Noir muttered. They hadn't come in the front door but they'd still managed to make it to his office door unaccosted. Honestly, what if they'd been trying to hurt him? Hopefully no one unsavory would ever realize how unprotected the mayor was.

Ladybug shrugged indifferently then knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came the muffled reply a moment later.

Chat Noir pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding it open for Ladybug to enter afterwards. Mayor Bourgeois sat behind his desk. He was dressed in a suit like always but his usual sash was absent. His jaw clicked shut and he frowned at the heroes. Without a word, he gathered the papers that were spread out across his desk and began shuffling them into a neat pile.

Chat nudged the door shut with his foot. He stayed one step behind Ladybug as they approached the desk. Normally they would present themselves side by side as equals but this time Ladybug would take the lead. Though he publically treated both heroes equally, they knew from experience that Bourgeois, like his daughter, preferred and deferred to Ladybug. It annoyed Chat Noir to _no_ end but he had to put up with the man enough as Adrien and this was a delicate situation, so if regulating himself to being her imposing shadow would get the best results, that's what he'd do.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir," Mayor Bourgeois greeted them stiffly. "So nice of you to finally come. It only took you a week. Perhaps a bit of punctuality would be better next time. I would have preferred if you had come in the daytime as well."

"We didn't want to," Ladybug replied evenly. "Nor did we want to deal with the media circus it would have caused. But we're here now and we're listening."

Bourgeois eyed them with irritation for a moment and Chat felt his ears lowering of their own accord. He did not try to straighten them.

"Straight to the point, then. I want to know the identity of the young woman who terrorized this city."

"Volpina," Ladybug answered swiftly. "Under the influence of Papillon."

The mayor gritted his teeth. "You know what I mean."

"I do. But we won't tell you her name."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard her," Chat retorted curtly. "You're not going to get anything from us."

Mayor Bourgeois gawked at them for a long minute, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Ladybug and Chat folded their arms, a united and immovable front, while they waited for the man to make his comeback. He would bluster now, Chat knew. Throw out some excuses, pull rank, anything he could think of to bully an answer out of them. Fortunately, neither of them had to answer to him and their respect for his authority only went so far. …And Bourgeois seemed to realize that.

"Why?" he finally demanded.

"What would you do to her if you knew who she was?" Ladybug asked. "Drag her out into the streets and humiliate her?"

"The people of this city deserve justice."

"So you'd arrest her and take her to court?" she scoffed. "Then what? She was an akuma. You have no case against her, no way to incriminate her for what she did, not without dragging every single other akuma victim through the same thing. All…" she paused, as if trying to remember how many there'd been.

"There's been well over a hundred of them now," Chat supplied helpfully. "And not a single one of them ever has been blamed for their actions."

Ladybug nodded once. "If you want to blame someone, blame Papillon, but I won't— _we_ won't let you ruin a girl's life like that."

The mayor's teeth clicked together sharply. "So you're refusing to cooperate."

"We are," Chat agreed with a nod.

"I am the mayor of this city, I have—"

"And we're the reason it's still standing!" he shot back with an annoyed roll of his eyes

The Mayor was quiet for a moment and then his expression morphed into a grim scowl that Chat Noir didn't like one bit. "As the mayor, I have a say on who and what is allowed to occur in my city. You two, thus far, have been permitted to operate outside the normal boundaries law because we acknowledge that you are the best defense we have against a force that also exists outside the law. …As well as laws of science. However, one word from me and that allowance disappears."

Chat Noir flattened his ears and fought back a growl building deep in his chest. He could feel his tail lashing behind him, whipping through the air in short, jerky motions. Ladybug, however, went completely still. He couldn't quite see her expression from his peripheral vision and he didn't want to take his eyes off Bourgeois to check but he had a funny feeling that it promised murder. Whatever it was, combined with his own glower, was enough to make major clench his jaw nervously.

"Are you threatening us?" Ladybug's voice was quiet but as hard and cold as ice.

Mayor Bourgeois' expression faltered but his voice did not. "If you're refusing to cooperate with us then your actions can and will be deemed as 'taking the law into your own hands'. That makes you vigilantes."

Chat hissed. Ladybug held up her hand and he stymied the animalistic response. "Fine," she said simply. "So be it." With that, she turned around and strode towards the door. He wasn't quite sure what she was playing at here but followed behind without protest. "Good luck with the akuma," she called over her shoulder.

"Wait!" the mayor called.

They whipped their heads around, perfectly in sync.

"You can't just—"

 _Oh, you wanna bet?_ Chat thought with a contemptuous laugh. "Watch us."

"This is how it's going to be, Monsieur Mayor," Ladybug warned him. "Either you accept that we will not expose Volpina and let us continue as we are or we walk away and let Paris save itself. Nothing you can say will ever change our minds."

"You may think you're all powerful," he added spitefully. "But you have no power over _us._ "

"So what's it going to be?"

* * *

Several blocks away from Hôtel de Ville, the heroes of Paris stood on the edge of a building and stared across their city.

"I can't believe we just did that."

"Me either."

* * *

The next day the mayor announced that they would no longer be pursuing any leads on Volpina's identity. After careful consideration, he had decided it would benefit no one to drag her out into the open. She could not be held responsible for her actions any more than any other akuma and since Paris had suffered no lasting harm thanks to Ladybug's cure, the only thing to seek justice for was wounded pride. That hardly justified the damage it would cause to the young lady's reputation.

"Can you _**believe**_ this guy?!" Plagg demanded and then hurled his piece of half-eaten camembert at the TV, ignoring his host's protests.

Tikki did not throw any food at her own host's screen but she did fold her arms and let out a quiet, angry buzz. "I do not like that man."

* * *

Mayor Bourgeois was smart enough not to speak against them publically; he wouldn't risk calling their bluff. And it wasn't a bluff. It would terrify her, but Marientte was willing to stand back and let an akuma rampage for a long time if that's what it took to show the mayor she was serious. She wasn't going to let that man give her or Chat orders. Once he started, he would never stop. They were Guardians, not weapons to be used by the government whenever it suited them or dogs to be ordered around.

Besides, as much as she enjoyed the exhilaration of being a hero, Chat absolutely relished it. He'd once admitted that it was one of the only things he truly loved about his life. She would not let anyone take that from him and especially not because of _Lila_.

They hadn't heard a peep from or about her since they'd dropped her off on the ground. Hopefully it would stay that way and she'd just fade into the background. Papillon was being uncharacteristically quiet as well and Marinette didn't like that nearly much. Despite the turmoil of the city and the watchfulness of her parents, Marinette couldn't help feel like this was the calm before the storm. The whole thing had blown over too easily.

* * *

Guardians were, on the whole, a proud bunch. At some point or another, they all took pride in being chosen for it meant they were better, worthier, than those around them. It meant they were strong enough even as children to do things that others who were their superiors in every way could not. They took pride in their mantle. They took pride in their powers, their strengths, their accomplishments, and their victories, as well as those of the other Guardians. They all shared the same burden, after all.

There would come a time in every Guardian's life where their pride was the only thing they had left. Even when the world around them forgot, their pride remained as a testament to all they had fought for and achieved.

Ladybug was but an infant compared to other Guardians alive and her pride as a Guardian was only just beginning. The anger she felt towards Lila was but a fraction of what a Guardian even ten years her senior would have experienced in face of her deceitful claims. Yet even then it paled in comparison to what she would have felt if Lila had claimed to be Ladybug.

And in the midst of all the chaos, between avoiding the mayor and press, and trying to maneuver through the shockwaves her most recent attack had left on their lives, both Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to overlook the single, important thing. The Fox was _real._


	27. Vingt Sept

**In which I hurt the cat son.**

* * *

Unbeknownst to Adrien or Plagg, his bond with Ladybug had progressed faster than average. Plagg would've warned him if he'd known. Careless and irresponsible he may be, but he wasn't cruel. He and Tikki had mentioned that one day they would be able to sense that their partner was in danger but they hadn't gone into detail yet since it wasn't an immediate concern.

Adrien's photoshoot ran late. He didn't get home until a few minutes before he was due to meet up with Ladybug. Their meeting place tonight was closer than their usual one so he could've been on time if he'd taken off the moment he shut his door but there was a chance that Gorilla would spot him leaving. So he had to wait fifteen more before it was safe to transform and leave. He didn't bother texting her on the prepaid phone because he knew she would already be transformed and waiting and he couldn't call her on their communicator, either, because she knew what his room and bathroom looked like. Besides, it wasn't the first time he'd been late. Had he known what would happen, he wouldn't have bothered waiting, secret identity be damned.

He did not know where the fear came from. One moment, he was fine, racing across the rooftops like he had done hundreds of times. The next, pure, unadulterated panic was searing through him. There was no reason for it. He hadn't seen or heard anything unnatural that would indicate an akuma nearby. But it was _real._ It hit him with the force of a moving car (and he knew all too well what that felt like) and his knees buckled. Down he went, rolling across the uneven surface of the roof. His stomach swooped as he plummeted to the ground.

Pain exploded in Chat Noir's body on the impact but quickly faded as the magic of his transformation quickly dealt with the shock to his system but it did nothing for the _fear_. His body shuddered, heart galloping in his chest, and his breathing was on the fast track to becoming hyperventilating.

 _ADRIEN!_ Plagg screamed in his mind.

Adrien let out a strangled cry, clutching at his front, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I—I don't kn—help me!"

He was afraid and not afraid and in pain but not and it wasn't him but it was and he didn't know what was happening—

 _It's too soon…_

His boy opened his eyes "W-what?! What's happening?!"

 _No time! You're feeling what Ladybug is feeling. We need to find her_ _ **now. GET UP! GO.**_

No need to tell him twice. Chat Noir sucked in a breath and even though part of him was screaming at him to hide, the other part of him, the part who loved his masked partner and would throw himself in front of a deadly akuma for her even if it wasn't part of his duty, knew he had to find her.

* * *

Ladybug craned her neck in a futile attempt to retreat from the sharp claws pressed against her exposed skin. The woman had come from nowhere, a blur of white amidst the night, and she'd move so quickly. Ladybug hadn't had a prayer against her and she'd been slammed into the wall before she'd even had a chance to really struggle.

Fear burned through her and her entire body felt hot and cold and she nearly trembled from the overwhelming urge to flee. Chat was late, she was alone, defenseless, and it could all be over before he even got here. What would he find? Would there be anything to find? Would he remember where they were supposed to meet?

This wasn't their preferred meetup place but one of several others they cycled through on occasion to prevent people from predicting their whereabouts and routes if they decided to try. Ladybug didn't like this one very much due to its proximity to her home. Far enough that she couldn't see it from her balcony but close enough that she risked being seen if Chat happened to come from that way. Tonight just happened to be one of the nights where they switched things up and he had forgotten a few times in the past.

"So here she is," the woman muttered in accented French. "The Ladybug."

"Let go of me!" Ladybug demanded between her teeth and she was proud that her voice didn't waver.

"Come on, is that the best you can do?"

Ladybug didn't have night vision but even she could see that despite the vivid white outfit she wore, her attacker very much resembled a fox. Her mask covered all of her upper face so it was impossible to tell anything about it but from her voice, Ladybug guessed she was at least in her twenties and her accent was way too lilting to be Italian. It couldn't be Lila.

Ladybug squirmed against the arm pinning her upper body. The fox woman pressed her claws in more firmly but not enough to break skin, not yet. "Pathetic. Don't worry, I don't want to kill you. I don't even want to hurt you. I want the imposter."

She tried to shake her head but immediately stopped when she her skin stung where claws slid against it. "What are you talking about?"

"The imposter," the woman repeated. "I'm here for her."

"W-who?"

"The little girl pretending to be the Fox! Where is she? I know you know who she is!"

Ladybug's opened and closed several times before she finally managed to get out a raspy, "Who?"

The fox woman yanked Ladybug forward and then slammed her forcefully into the wall. Her head knocked against the stone and she let out a tiny cry. "Where is she?!"

Ladybug was extremely confused and afraid but she knew right then that she had to protect Lila from this madwoman. Despite what she had done, Lila did not deserve to die, and if the look in the woman's eye was any indication that was exactly what would happen to her if she spoke her name.

"N-not on your life," she panted.

Quick as a flash, the woman yanked her away from the wall again and this time she flipped her up before tossing her unceremoniously to the ground. Ladybug gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and before she could move, there was a boot pressing firmly against her windpipe.

"I won't ask you again," the woman snarled. "WHERE IS SHE?"

Why did she even _care_? Unless—

A yowl of fury was the only warning either of them had. Chat Noir appeared out of nowhere, a black blur of rage. He bowled into the woman and sent her sprawling. Ladybug gasped as the pressure against her throat disappeared and greedily gulped down air. Relief replaced fear at the sight of him. Chat crouched over her protectively and a feral hiss ripped its way from his throat. His ears were flat against his head and anger rolled off him in waves.

Laughing, the fox woman rolled onto her hands and knees. "I should've known you wouldn't be too far away."

"Who are you?" Chat Noir demanded.

The fox woman looked affronted and she pushed herself to her feet. Chat hissed again, a deep, harsh sound that Ladybug had never heard from him before, and whipped his baton up in front of himself.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "…No? Really? Perhaps if you weren't so busy playing with copycats you would know who I am. Or are you still too young?" her eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Have you been taught the histories yet?"

"Last chance."

The woman rolled her eyes, cocked her hip, and folded her arms. "I'm Lisitsa, Guardian to Dishonesty."

Ladybug's eyes widened and Chat's shoulders continued to shake but other than that, neither of them moved. Lisitsa looked between them for a moment, smirk fading, then her arms fell to her sides. "Wow. Really kids?"

Chat Noir wasn't having it. "Why are you here?"

Lisitsa's face twisted into a snarl. "Because there's a little bitch running around in _your_ city pretending to be me!"

Chat inhaled sharply through his nose and Ladybug pushed herself onto her knees.

"I will not tolerate this!" the elder Guardian raged. "It's an insult to me and to my legacy! Now, tell me where I can find her."

"No," Ladybug croaked again.

Lisitsa took a step forward. "You would side with an _outsider_ over a fellow Guardian?"

"I don't care who you are!" Chat Noir snapped. "Y-you stay away from us!"

Lisitsa opened her mouth to argue but then she paused and her brow smoothed as her frown became one of consideration. "What's wrong with you?"

It was only then that Ladybug noticed there was something off about Chat. His baton wobbled unsteadily in front of him. Following the line of his arms, she realized he was trembling from head to toe. Chat had always been like a solid wall when positioned between an enemy and their target, firm and unwavering. To see him quivering like a terrified mouse in face of danger was…concerning to say the least. His breathing was shaky, uneven, and very loud in the otherwise quiet night.

"Chat?" she rasped quietly, pushing herself to feet.

"Stay away," Chat repeated, voice thick.

Lisitsa eyes flicked back and forth between the two of them for several seconds before they widened. She raised her hands in surrender and slowly lowered herself to the ground like she was trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. "Okay," she said, placating. "Okay, look. I'm no threat. I won't move." She sat cross-legged, head ducked, foxlike ears lowered in submission.

Chat watched her for a moment longer, still panting, then he let his staff clatter to the ground and whirled around. Ladybug jumped in surprise as his arms enveloped her, pulling her body flush against his own, and let out a quiet noise somewhere between a sob and a whimper. Before she could return his hug, he pulled back and his hands came up to flit across her face, neck, and shoulders. His fingers lingered at her throat where Lisitsa's claws had pressed into her throat.

"Chat?" she whispered.

"I—I thought…I felt…" He shuddered as he exhaled and pulled her back to him. Burying his face in her hair, his whispered, "I thought you…."

Ladybug gulped. She didn't understand what was going on, maybe somehow the attack had triggered his sense for destruction? She couldn't think of anything else that he could have 'felt'. The sight of her pinned must have been scary but not enough for this. Not for him.

"I'm okay," she promised, stroking the back of his head gently. His hands clenched and unclenched reflexively as they slid across her back. "I'm okay. It's okay. _We're_ okay."

"Oh," the other Guardian's murmur floated over from the other side of the roof. "Are either of you even three years old yet?"

Ladybug met the woman's eye over Chat's shoulder. She had lowered her hands but now her ears were sticking straight up and she looked almost…horrified. Ladybug knew she wasn't inquiring about their biological age and she shook her head once.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

* * *

Once Chat was suitably reassured she was _alive_ and he calmed down enough to actually let go of her,Ladybug thought it would be a good idea to get the hell out of there. Somewhere between meek and horrified, Lisitsa was hardly much of a threat at the moment but she knew that could change in an instant. She had absolutely no desire to make an enemy of another Guardian any more than they already had and staying would only make things worse.

So, ignoring her pleas for them to wait, the two teenagers took off in the direction of the apartment block where they went to meet with their kwami. They had some serious explaining to do this time.

* * *

"I am so sorry!" Plagg blurted out the moment he was free of the ring. Ladybug couldn't see his face but she could tell from the way he jumped that the boy who was Chat Noir was startled, but he wasted no time before demanding answers.

"What happened to me?"

"It's part of the bond! Usually it doesn't form until around two and a half years into the partnership. You should have been months away from that kind of connection! Months! We didn't know it would happen so soon or we would have explained already!" Plagg zipped past Adrien and floated in front of Ladybug's face. "Ask Tikki, she'll tell you!"

Adrien let out a noise of exasperation. "But what _happened_?"

The kwami sighed, hanging his head. "You felt her fear tonight. If one of you is under extreme duress, the other can feel it. The only way to distinguish it from your own emotions is the lack of stimuli for it in your own environment…and, well, some of my cats have said they just _know_ it isn't theirs."

The teenagers were quiet. Plagg waited, wringing his paws nervously. He'd never had a host manifest this before without warning and Adrien's emotional state had been quite worrying when he'd de-transformed.

"S-so…that…it….it was normal?" Adrien rasped.

"It's an ability you share," Plagg explained. "It's an emergency beacon, I guess."

"It was horrible!"

"It's a useful tool that has saved the lives of your predecessors countless times."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ladybug said quickly, holding up her hand. "What's going on? What happened?"

"He felt your fear," Plagg repeated. "When Lisitsa attacked you, it terrified you, and he felt that through the connection you share."

Mind reeling, Ladybug looked at her partner. She still couldn't see him clearly but she could tell that his shoulders were hunched and shaking. Without a word, she closed the space between them and pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her almost immediately and buried his face in her shoulder. Ladybug released her transformation and he shifted so his face was pressed against her bare neck instead.

Tikki floated up behind her and sighed. "I'm sorry as well. Usually I am the one who monitors the progression of the bond but I did not see the signs either. Forgive me."

"Not your fault," he mumbled into Marinette's shoulder.

"I am grateful you see it that way. But now that it's happened once, it will happen again. Every time one of you is extremely afraid or in serious pain, although you will not feel the actual physical pain. Once it's fully developed, you'll be able to locate each other as well."

"Before communicators were a part of your ensemble," Plagg continued, "This was one of the only ways Guardians could communicate across distances. And unlike your weapons, this will work regardless which forms you happen to be in at the time."

"Of course…this also means that when one of you inevitably dies…the other will know."

Marinette frowned at her kwami's tone. "What do you mean by 'know'?"

"You will feel the bond snap," Plagg said matter-of-factly. "Or, at least, that's how it's been described.

"Shut up," Adrien said abruptly. His arms tightened around her. "Please just…shut up."

"And they wonder why we never tell them everything at once," the black kwami muttered, only to be shushed by Tikki.

"If you two don't mind, we would like to go speak with Firra. She's Lisitsa's kwami. She's been calling to us for the past two minutes. You two can wait here together or we'll take you home and then go back out."

Adrien didn't say anything but his grip didn't loosen either, which was answer enough for Marinette. "We'll wait here," she told them. "But are you sure it's safe?"

"Of course it's safe," Plagg retorted with disgust in his voice. "What happens between you humans hardly affects what happens between us kwami."

"And regardless of how you three feel about each other, Lisitsa is bound to aid you as soon as she is able."

Adrien's head jerked up. "She what?"

"It is her duty, just as it is yours, to combat Curse," Tikki reminded him. "She will likely seek to make amends with you as well and this is the most effective way."

"Also, Firra's gonna be _pissed_ when she finds out what's going on around here." Plagg added smugly as he flew towards the wall. "Even if the woman doesn't feel like fighting, Firra will."

"Why?" Marinette asked.

"Meh…kwami stuff."

Their kwami disappeared through the wall, leaving the two teenagers alone. Marinette sighed and pulled against her partner's hold. He held on for a moment longer, then loosened his grip so she could put distance between their bodies.

The shutters were drawn, blocking all but the smallest slivers of light from entering. Their eyes would adjust sooner or later so they needed to be careful. Despite everything, she—she just wasn't ready for him to know yet. It would change everything and she liked what they had. She didn't want to risk it falling apart. She knew that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives and at some point he would have to know her name and face. They couldn't feasibly go forever not knowing each other.

 _Papillon_ , she thought to herself. So long as there was a risk of one of them falling to Papillon, it was safer for them to not know. _Once he's gone, we can know each other._

"My lady?" he whispered and took her hand. His was warm and smooth and not at all the kind of hands she'd expect from someone who spent so much time fighting. He tugged on her arm gently and she allowed him to lead her to the nearest wall. They sat down together and when he put his arm around her shoulders, she burrowed in close to his side.

"What was it like?" she asked after a moment of silence.

She both heard and felt him swallow. He considered her for a moment. "Do you play those video games with jump scares?"

"I did once."

"It's a bit like that. I wasn't scared at all before that, I was fine. I was just thinking about you and that I was going to be late and it came out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting it at all and I didn't know what was happening or why I was feeling afraid. But it didn't stop even after I'd realized there was no reason for me to be afraid."

"S-so it wasn't just a moment of it?"

He shook his head. "I felt you right up until the moment I pushed her off you. I guess that was when you stopped being afraid."

Three minutes, four at most. Chat must have been close. Had he already been transformed or did he live nearby?

He shuddered again. "And when Plagg told me it was you I freaked. I'm surprised _you_ didn't feel _me._ I was so scared."

"It's going to be okay," Marinette promised.

"I don't want you to ever feel that." He rested his cheek on top of her head. "I wish I hadn't."

"I should have realized she was there. Heard her, saw her, smelt her, _something_. I let my guard down and she got the jump on me. If I'd known, I wouldn't have been so scared."

"Don't you dare blame yourself!" he hissed. Sliding his fingers underneath her chin, he lifted her face up with his free hand. She could make out the outline of his face but nothing definitive (or incriminating) yet. "It's not your fault you scared me. It's hers."

"I know it is." Marinette rested her head against his shoulder. "I just should not have let her so close to begin with."

A quiet grow built in his chest and she felt it rumble beneath her cheek as he bit out, "I hate her."

"We don't even know her. S-she could help us. Think about it! We could have real help! Please, Chat Noir."

"You'd have maimed her if it was me."

"Probably. I don't like her either but she's a Guardian. The first one we've met and she'll help us if we let her. Don't you want help? It's been two years and we're no closer to finding and stopping Papillon than we were in the beginning. She could be what we need."

Marinette felt him shake his head and then he shifted his body so their legs were pressed together and he wrapped his arms around her. "She hurt us," he whispered. She didn't say anything. "I thought I was going to find you dead."

 _Oh, Chat…_

A soft, feather touch against her temple and she tensed when she realized it was from his lips. There wasn't enough pressure for it to be a kiss but she recognized the sentiment behind the gesture. That was twice now in as many weeks. Granted, she _had_ instigated the first one but even still!

His lips ghosted across her skin as he whispered, "I just want you safe."

"Chat—"

"No, no, let me finish. I've already lost the person I loved most in the world. I was a kid, there was nothing I could've done. The other is distant, cold, and except for these rare moments I—I don't even think he cares about me. In a way I've already lost him. Everyone else in my home doesn't care about me, not really."

She knew Chat's home life wasn't perfect but he'd never implied just how bad it was until now. Her hand began rubbing small circles on his back and after a moment she actually felt him relax a little.

"Then there's you," he murmured nearly half a minute later. "You're here and you care and I do everything I can to keep you safe because I don't want to lose you, too. And I thought I was going to. Because of her."

"Chat…"

His only response was to hold her tighter.

* * *

 **:)**

 **As always, feel free to come chat (or scream at me for this) on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	28. Vingt Huit

**Lol. I actually wasn't too far off from the fox kwami's canon description in the original draft of this. I changed it to fit. ...Perfect timing, no?  
**

* * *

Firra's fur was the color of a pumpkin with a long, bushy tail tipped with white, four black paws, and bright violet eyes. Her ears, which were tipped with black, narrowed into points where her small antenna extended from. She was pacing back and forth over the roof where their hosts had met when Plagg and Tikki arrived.

She perked up immediately when she saw them and let out a loud yip. "Plagg! Tikki!"

She soared through the air, throwing her arms wide, and careened into them. The three of them rolled around in the air in a kwami heap. Their spinning ended with Tikki upside down and Firra on Plagg's back and her little arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"It's terrible to see you!" she announced with a smile.

Plagg rolled his eyes but Tikki saw the smile on his face. "Get off me, you moron!"

She yipped in wordless protest and elbowed him in the chest before pushing him away. Plagg huffed but still smiled good-naturedly as he floated over to Tikki.

"I haven't spoken to anyone but my host in fifty years!" Firra whined. "Fifty! Do you know what that's like, only talking to one person for fifty years?!"

"No?"

"It's wonderful," she said petulantly. Tikki patted her arm.

As the embodiment of dishonesty, Firra's statements were generally the complete opposite of what she meant. When she had Amaat at her side, almost everything that left her mouth had never been anything less than half a lie. The kwami knew how to work out her meanings but Amaat had always been there to provide the truth of the matter when her web of lies got too intricate to follow. Without him, however, she had changed. Honesty riddled her words. Some part of Amaat lingering around her or perhaps within her. Perhaps her nature had altered to compensate for the loss. She had not gone mad as Nurru had but no one would deny that he, too, had been altered. Chaos mixed in with Order.

It was an interesting phenomenon, one that no kwami desired to study.

"I see you have new hosts," Firra commented. "Fresh ones, too. What are they, seventeen? Eighteen?"

"Sixteen," Plagg corrected with a scowl. "Oh, make sure to tell your woman _thanks_ for traumatizing my boy. The kid is probably going to have nightmares from this!"

The fox kwami looked horrified. "Did he not know?!"

"NO! They've only just turned two!"

"I'm sorry," Firra said and they could tell from her tone that she was sincere. Even after all this time, it was still strange to hear genuine statements from her, but it was a sign of how serious she was. "Olesya can be a bit…rash when angered. It wasn't her intention to hurt them."

"Then what did she want?" Tikki asked sharply. It was wonderful to see one of their own again but they needed explanations to take back to their Chosen.

"We've come for the girl, the one who has taken the mantle of Lisitsa as she was seventy years ago."

"Lisitsa once went by Volpina?"

"No," Firra replied. "And she didn't fight in Roma, either."

"Huh," Plagg muttered. "I guess there was some truth in the girl's stories after all."

She cocked her head to the side but did not ask what he meant. "Over the past few days, it became obvious that your hosts would be cooperative in our endeavor. Lisitsa did not think force would be necessary to get an answer from them. She is not at all sorry and does not care if the Cat will be alright."

"He and Ladybug are together right now," Tikki reassured her. "She will soothe him."

Firra nodded. "Shame. I would love for this encounter to not work out. …Lisitsa is here for vengeance and I am here for answers. What is going on? Who _is_ that girl?"

Tikki and Plagg glanced at each other nervously. "It's a long story," she warned the lone kwami. "And you're not going to like it."

"I'm not going to listen."

"It's…about Nurru," Plagg began carefully. For a hundred years they'd been planning how to tell another kwami what had become of Order and Chaos but now that the moment was here, they were both afraid. The others would have known the instant Kaoss passed, they would have felt the change in the world and the loss of balance as potently as Tikki and Plagg had. Circumstances, however, could only be revealed through a retelling of events and with Plagg and Tikki the lone witnesses other than Nurru, none of the others yet knew of how Kaoss had died.

Firra's expression tightened. She knew better than any of them what it was like to be alone and without her twin. It was a well-known fact that she and Baagh, the Fire kwami, would come together often and remain together as long as possible, if only for the company of one who knew what it was like to be missing their other half. Lies and flames made for a volatile combination and they could never spend more than a year or so in each other's company before having to part ways.

"I have not been searching for him everywhere," she told them. "Baagh has not either. We do not think that Order might be able to be the catalyst for peaceful cohabitation for the three of us and I absolutely don't give a damn how he's doing or where he is. …Or how Kaoss died."

"One hundred and eight years ago in battle," Tikki told her. "Our previous Guardians were working alongside theirs against a black sorcerer in Latvia There was an explosion. There was nothing we could've done."

"My Cat sensed something coming," Plagg went on. "But he couldn't predict what it would be. Everything was too chaotic."

"We tried to help them afterwards but they were inconsolable. We had to continue the fight on our own and when it was over, he shunned us. They both did."

"There was nothing we could do."

Firra looked between both of them, lip quivering. "I don't want to see him. I don't care where he is."

Plagg sighed. "He's here in Paris."

She gasped and her paws flew to her mouth. She spun around as if expecting to see him behind her. Sniffing delibertatly at the air, she floated around the rooftop and they let her go even though they knew she would find nothing. When she gave up, she flew back to Plagg and Tikki, beseeching them with her eyes.

"Our Nurru is gone." Tikki informed her sadly. "All that's left is a twisted shell. Curse took hold in his grief. He and Papillon blame us for their deaths. They've been hunting us for decades. We lost Black Cat and Mariquita only a few years ago on the same day. We'd hoped that…maybe…he'd leave us and our new children be but…"

Firra held up her paw and the other kwami fell silent. "Tell. Me. Absolutely. Nothing."

So, of course, they did the exact opposite.

* * *

Adrien did not sleep well that night. Even with Plagg curled up in the crook of his neck, purring his tiny heart out, it wasn't enough to soothe him. Dread lurked, whispering warnings that any second now he would feel her fear again. Every time the gentle rumbling from his kwami and exhaustion lured him down, a flash of panic would surge through him and he would awake once more.

By morning, he was utterly miserable. Natalie took one look at his face and cancelled the photoshoot he had scheduled that day, a follow up for the one that had kept him from his lady's side last night. She was about thirty seconds from calling a doctor when he assured her he wasn't ill; he'd just had nightmares. She accepted his excuse with a curt nod and zero questions about the nature of the dreams. He'd expected nothing more but somehow was still a bit disappointed. His mother would've cared.

…Where the _hell_ had that come from?

He texted his lady on the prepaid phone they used to communicate with when not transformed and asked to see her. Her response came quickly and was apologetic. She had a commitment with her family that morning and would not be free until after lunch.

' _Are you okay?'_

' _No.'_ Was his reply. Short and simple and honest. She would not appreciate a lie and he didn't have the energy for it, even like this. He was far from okay.

"There's no need to make the poor girl worry," Plagg chided lightly. "This is not something you should live in fear of, either."

"I can't just stop being afraid," Adrien snapped. "If I could I would but it—it was terrible."

"I know…and I am sorry, Adrien," he apologized again.

Adrien was a little surprised. He hadn't known Plagg cared enough about him to feel remorse for failing to warn him about something of this magnitude when he'd let the whole sterility thing hit him like a freight train.

' _I'll come as soon as I can.'_ his Lady promised.

* * *

Marinette spent the entire morning distracted. She was supposed to be helping her parents in the bakery but she was more of a burden than anything. Dropping things, getting egg shells in the batter, nearly mixing up the salt and sugar. You'd have thought she'd never worked in the kitchen in her life. Her parents quickly realized their daughter was not on her game and there were questions between customers.

Finally, Marinette claimed she'd just hadn't slept very well at all. They let it go. Fifteen minutes later they dismissed her from the bakery.

She bounded up to her room gratefully, already deciding to text Chat Noir. It was three hours early but she had promised as soon as she could. He had still been quite shaken when they'd parted ways last night and she wondered if he'd slept any better than she had. Worry had kept her up most of the night. Tikki hadn't told her much about the meeting with Firra, only that they should seek to communicate with Lisitsa as soon as possible. She would be amicable this time.

Marinette wasn't too sure.

She wouldn't mind meeting with her but she wouldn't go without Chat and he had made his opinion on her quite clear. The phrase 'scratching post' had been used.

She flopped down on her bed, reaching under the corner of her mattress where she kept the phone Chat had given her. ("The Chat Phone" as he called it. She was almost certain there was a reference in there somewhere.) There were no new messages since the last one she'd sent.

' _I got free early. Where and when?'_

The reply came about a minute later. _'Eiffel Tower in 20?'_

' _Can do!'_

Or it would have, if she hadn't heard the screams on the way.

* * *

It was another monster-type akuma. The first attack since Volpina and it was a straight-forward, no-nonsense, violent monster. Either Papillon didn't plan these things and irony was at work or he was trying to make a statement.

Big and red with a giant horn on his head like the unicorn from hell, glowing white eyes, and a scream like a thousand dying chickens. At least, what Ladybug thought a thousand dying chickens might sound like. Apart from his horn which he used to charge people like a rhino and skewer innocent vehicles, his most dangerous weapon was the long whip-like tail with three deadly barbs on the end. He had no qualms about whipping it around and whacking it into buildings and vehicles alike and she doubted he'd care if he hit the people in the vicinity either. He was certainly trying to hit her with it.

"MI'CULOUS!" it thundered, the only word it seemed capable of producing.

He wasn't very agile but that damn tail of his was long, quick, and deadly. Perfect for squashing a bug.

Chat Noir was nowhere to be found, either. Odds were he had come from a different direction to the tower than she and had missed the commotion. She couldn't get a second to call him, either. The moment she'd retreated to the rooftops, the monster had tried getting into a shop where civilians were taking shelter.

She was trying hard to stay calm. It wasn't her first fight alone; she could handle one akuma by herself! More so she was afraid of, well, being afraid. Worried that if she let herself feel fear it would reach him. She didn't know the threshold for it yet. Tikki had said 'extreme duress' triggered it but what counted as extreme duress? She couldn't risk doing that to him again so soon, not if she had hopes of going home without him.

What was that old English saying? _'We have nothing to fear but fear itself.'_

"MI'CUOUS!"

Ladybug danced out of the way of the tail just before it swept through where she'd been standing.

A low, eerie melody flowed through the air. It sounded like some sort of flute. Ladybug looked around curiously and found the source almost immediately. Lisitsa. Her white suit made her easy to spot though she wasn't taking any pains to conceal herself to begin with. She sat right out in the open on the edge of a roof, feet and tail dangling over the side.

In front of her she held a long, thin instrument. There were no holes save for one at the very bottom and that was where her fingers moved and shifted, guiding the melody. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration but other than that she seemed totally at ease. Ladybug frowned. This was who Volpina was based off of. How true to the original had she been?

Fog began to descend from the sky, slow and thin at first, but then faster and thicker within the span of a few seconds. It surrounded the akuna, cloaking it in a thick murky blanket. The akuma growled and swiped his tail but the fog did not vanish. Ladybug made a grab for the fog as well and her hand passed harmlessly through it. What the heck?

Ladybug looked up at Lisitsa. Their eyes met and the elder Guardian winked conspiratorially.

So, Papillon had gotten the flute part right (sort of?), but clearly had been incapable of completely duplicating the full powers of the Fox.

Lisitsa jerked her head and the tip of her tail curled, beckoning to her. She hesitated for a moment then, with a sigh, threw her yo-yo at the chimney nearest to Lisitsa and zipped towards her. Landing on the edge of the roof, she unwound her yo-yo from the chimney and crouched a few feet away from the other Guardian.

She continued to play for five more seconds and then lowered the flute from her lips. "Hello, Ladybug," she greeted. "This fog will only remain for a minute now that I've stopped playing."

The akuma screamed and Lisitsa flinched, lowering her ears.

Now that she wasn't in her face, Ladybug realized that the Fox looked a _lot_ like Volpina. Uncannily so. It was as if Papillon had taken this suit and re-colored it for his akuma. Where Volpina was orange, Lisitsa was off-white. Her Miraculous hung out in the open, clearly visible on her neck: a curled white fox tail with a black tip. From there, the similarities ended. Volpina's suit had been sleek and shiny and spandex, Lisitsa's looked more like soft animal hide but still bore the telltale hexagonal print of a kwami suit. Her neck, gloves, and boots had a layer of fur around them, the same fur her entire tail and belt were comprised of. Her ears were much smaller, foxlike, and more proportional to her body. Her hands, which gripped her strange flute tightly, were tipped with razor sharp claws. Her mask came down past her nose, which was marked with a black spot. Her eyes were completely blue, iris and sclera both, akin to Chat Noir's. Her hair was long, light brown, and twisted back into a single braid.

She was a fully-realized Guardian, built for survival and battle. Even now that she was docile there was power dancing around her. Seeing her in broad daylight with her magic working below them, Ladybug wondered how they could have ever mistaken Volpina for a Guardian, even for a second.

"Where is your Cat?"

"Late," Ladybug replied. "It happens. We were supposed to meet at the tower ten minutes ago."

"Really? I thought he would've stayed by your side for at least a day. I've never felt what he did but I've heard what it's like." Lisitsa cocked her head to the side. "Did he not go home with you?"

"We…don't know each other's identities."

She whipped her head around and stared. "You're kidding. …Of all the ridiculous—why on Earth not?"

"It's complicated."

"Your bond is nearly at the point of completion. Surely by now whatever reasons you harbor are no longer of consequence."

"Oh, there's a very good reason," Ladybug shot back. "And right now, it's none of your business. Are you going to help me or not?"

Volpina gestured to the fog. "And what do you call that?"

"Point taken. Can you keep the akuma busy while I get ahold of Chat?"

Lisitsa nodded and pulled her legs up into a crouch. "Tell me first: can I kill this creature?"

"NO! It's a person! You need to look for something out of place, something odd. It's got to be on them somewhere, maybe even _in_ them but sticking out. Maybe a personal item. We break it, we free the butterfly, I purify the Curse from it—taadaa! They go back to normal and everything's fine."

If any of that seemed odd to her, she didn't show it. "Understood!" Nodding curtly, Lisitsa leaped into the fog.

* * *

 **Stand back, kiddos. There's a professional in th E.**

 **Also, if people didn't see, hchano on tumblr did artwork of Lisitsa! (ilu art senpai.) /post/148080887671/ :3**


	29. Vingt Neuf

When Chat Noir arrived, he did so without a trace of his usual flare and flung himself unceremoniously into the fray. He and Lisitsa locked eyes and after a few seconds something passed between them. She nodded once and skittered away from the akuma, letting Chat Noir draw its attention with an insult and a hard whack on its back, only to dart back in a moment later and swipe at it with her sharp claws.

Ladybug, meanwhile, was observing the fight intently. She had warned him that they had help this time and begged him to accept it but she hadn't been sure if he actually would. Twenty claws were better than ten and logic seemed to have won out. She didn't have to worry about Chat being overwhelmed by himself like she had been. He might gouge out Lisitsa's eyes afterwards but right now he was tag-teaming with her and that was giving Ladybug a chance to properly search for the corrupted object.

She was thinking it was on the akuma's tail. She hadn't had a chance to really examine it with the akuma whipping it around everywhere but she'd had a look at almost every single other part of his body and there was _nothing._ It was worth a shot.

"His tail!" Ladybug yelled.

Chat Noir flicked his tail upwards to indicate he'd heard her. Lisitsa's ears twitched and she reached for the flute on her back. She lifted it to her lips and another haunting melody filled the air. It was much shorter than the first and no sooner had it ended than three identical copies of herself materialized in a row in front of her. She threw her hand out towards the akuma and they charged. Two of them split away onto opposite sides of the akuma and it roared, swiveling to follow the one on the right. The third continued to charge it head-on and when she was only a few precarious meters away, she leaped onto its back.

The akuma screamed and began thrashing about to dislodge her while its tail swung wildly. The clone it had been pursuing leaped next, latching onto the akuma's horn which only served to infuriate it even more. The clone swung herself around so that her body was blocking the akuma's line of sight.

It stumbled back several paces and Chat Noir had to throw himself to the ground to avoid getting skewered by its flailing tail. "You're making it worse!" Chat yelled at her.

The real Lisitsa shook her head just as the last clone sprang onto the akuma's tail and forced it to the ground with her weight. Ladybug had not considered the possibility that these illusions would have weight although it made sense. How else would the akuma know they were on it? The akuma screamed again and the clone slipped off, hitting the ground hard and, unfortunately, not at an angle she could easily roll from.

Even though she knew that it was an illusion, Ladybug couldn't stop a scream of horror as the akuma raised its tail and slammed it down on top of the clone's body.

It disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Oh.

Lisitsa cupped her hands over her mouth and called up to Ladybug, "There's some sort of ring around the base of one of the spikes! Is that what you're looking for?"

Ladybug's jaw dropped. Around one of the spikes?! How the heck were they supposed to—? Oh. Oh, _wow_. She'd used her illusions to gather intel that no living thing could have safely acquired. A glance at Chat Noir showed that he was similarly impressed by the ingenuity of her plan.

The elder Guardian smirked, spread her arms wide, and bent her knees in a theatric curtsey.

The two remaining illusions vanished in a puff of smoke and the akuma screamed again. Lisitsa's smile fell away and she twirled her strange flute before bringing it to her lips. A swarm of birds appeared over their heads and began dive bombing it. As she continued playing, Ladybug leaped from the roof to the sidewalk below. Chat skirted around the edge of the fight to join her.

"She's good," Ladybug commented. Chat grunted noncommittally.

"What now, my lady?"

"I guess we'll see. Lucky charm!" she cried and threw her hand into the air.

* * *

It was the first akuma since Volpina and if that fact alone didn't have Parisians in a tizzy then the presence of a mysterious woman in white certainly did. Before the fight was even over, the Ladyblog submissions page, the social media pages of those near the fight, as well as news outlets were exploding. A third masked figure was on the scene with Ladybug and Chat Noir and she was suspiciously foxlike. She could also make illusions.

Everyone, including Alya who was filming from up the block, immediately thought that she had to be Volpina. Except the costume was all wrong, she was taller than both of them, and her flute was definitely not the same as Volpina's. To top it all off: she was working _with_ them. Volpina would certainly never do that. …So if it wasn't Volpina…then who was she?

When the fight was over and the monstrous akuma had been returned to human, the heroes did not immediately flee to the rooftops or go to console the victim like they normally did. Instead, the heroes of Paris stood side by side as the white fox approached them. (Later, Alya would point out in her analysis of the video the look of hostility on Chat's otherwise unrecognizable face and the way he moved just enough so that he was in front of Ladybug as the fox neared.) She stopped a few feet away and none of them moved.

The entire city seemed to hold its breath. Even the akuma victim was silent, watching with wide-eyes.

Then, to everyone's shock, the fox woman's ears and head lowered submissively and she bowed at the waist. But no one was more surprised than Ladybug and Chat Noir. Neither one of them said anything for exactly fifteen seconds and the fox woman didn't so much as even twitch in all that time. Finally, Chat said something to her quietly and the woman raised her head. Nodding once, she slowly straightened and backed away. The three heroes spoke quietly to each other for minute and then went their separate ways: the fox in one direction and Ladybug and Chat Noir heading in another.

Once the video hit the Ladyblog, the sites forum and comments section exploded with theories. So, too, did the rest of social media. Everyone was talking about who she was, who she could be, what the relationship between the three of them was. Was she bowing out of respect? Was it some hero thing? Was Chat Noir ticked off because she was a 'fox' on his territory. The only thing anyone could seem to agree on was that her coloring suggested she was supposed to be an arctic fox.

Beyond that, no one really had a clue until about three hours after the fight when screenshots, translated articles, and links to Russian news sources made their way into the English-dominated circles of social media. From there, they made their way into the French circles and by the time the evening news aired, Paris had its answers.

Her name was Lisitsa and she was a bona fide hero from Russia.

* * *

"Russia, huh?" was the first thing Chat Noir said when he arrived. He wasn't too thrilled about this meeting. He wouldn't have agreed at all if she hadn't apologized and begged a second chance.

Ladybug and Lisitsa were already there, a fact that didn't sit too well with him. Sure, she had proven her usefulness earlier and she had helped keep Ladybug safe because he'd been _late_ , but she was also the source of all his distress from the past twenty-four hours. Part of him was sure that she would strike at any second even though she looked completely relaxed and was standing a respectful distance away from his partner.

Lisitsa did not seem surprised by his question and nodded once. "Yes. There is a black sorcerer making his way throughout Russia that I've been tracking for a few years now. He's currently operating in north Buryatia, if that means anything to you. He's quite slippery and it is just me."

"Where's your partner?" Ladybug asked.

The elder Guardian shrugged. "Never had one. Amaat, my kwami's twin, died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry," Chat blurted out before he could stop himself. He couldn't imagine doing this without Ladybug.

She shrugged again. "I've never known any different. I've worked with the Tiger before but it's not the same. You're lucky to have each other."

"Tiger…" Ladybug muttered, wrinkling her nose. Plagg and Tikki had never told them which animals belonged to which kwami.

"Fire," Lisitsa supplied helpfully. Oh, that made sense. The water kwami had been the first to go. He remembered that. "Illusions and fire. Very messy. And with no pretty little Ladybug there to make things right again," she added with a playful smirk.

Ladybug shifted uncomfortably and Chat growled. "Chat," she scolded.

"I don't like her," he muttered.

"And you have every right not to," Lisitsa replied. "I did not realize you were young enough that my methods would…trigger the first calling. I've never felt it myself, obviously, but I've heard from others what it's like. It sounds truly frightening even when you know what's going on. But my kwami said you weren't even aware of what was going on yet and for that I am deeply sorry."

"So you're sorry for scaring me to death but not for attacking her?" Chat Noir demanded. If she was trying to get in his good graces, then she was doing a really shitty job.

"Correct."

Ladybug scoffed.

"Don't misunderstand me. I am sorry for causing you both undue pain. It was cruel. But the fact of the matter is that you are standing between me and my prey. I left Russia, I left my duty, to come here. I have been in this city for days and I have been spending my time trying to uncover the name or identity of the girl but there were no answers to be found because you two were refusing to talk."

"And you thought you had to beat it out of us," Ladybug interrupted her. "Yeah. Tikki told me."

"Can you blame me?"

"Yes," they both said at once.

"I suppose you can. You're both young and your lives have been very different than mine. I don't have the luxury of support as you do."

"We're not going to tell you her name," Chat Noir warned her. "So if that's all you came for then you can go."

Lisitsa glowered at him. "No. Your kwami filled mine in on the…situation. I know now that the girl is not entirely to blame. There is another. Although Firra refuses to explain everything to me yet." Her eyes glittered. "Something about respecting boundaries and territory."

"More kwami keeping secrets," he muttered and folded his arms. "Typical."

"Isn't it?" She flashed the first genuine smile he'd seen from her. "If there's one thing you can count on with the little bastards, it's their tendency to skirt the truth. Your kwami may have never outright lied to you but don't ever think, even for a second, that they are completely honest. My kwami lies almost every time she opens her mouth, it's in her nature, but yours…oh they'll tell you the truth often enough, but when it comes to the important stuff…" she trailed off with a chuckle.

"They wait until it's too late and then they drop the bomb," Ladybug finished bitterly.

Lisitsa frowned sympathetically. "Your menstruation stopped. When?"

"Earlier this year. I had no idea it was coming."

"Neither did I. None of us do."

Chat's eyebrows shot towards his hairline. Really? That shouldn't be reassuring but, strangely enough, it was. An experience all Guardians shared. He wondered if he ever spoke to other Guardians, would they all have stories of kwami 'surprises'?

"Anything good we're missing out on?" he asked curiously.

Lisitsa's ears lowered slightly and he knew immediately what the answer was. "I'm afraid that qualifies as a forbidden subject. It's not my right…or responsibility to explain certain things to you. I'm sorry. Plus, I don't feel like risking the wrath of the gods of Creation and Destruction."

"No, just their hosts."

"I'm a lot more afraid of them than I am of you. You two aren't much of a threat." They both scowled at her and Lisitsa sighed. "I'm often told I lack social skills. I'm just being honest. If you want, I could live up to my title and start lying instead."

"Don't," Ladybug said immediately.

"Done. What I meant is that the two of you still don't have all your powers yet. Now, about the girl—"

"We already told you no!" Chat Noir snapped.

Lisitsa's fluffy tail lashed. "Would you at least let me explain?! Because this has been one giant misunderstanding and I really think we all need to be on the same page. I don't want to fight you. Believe it or not, I'm very happy to meet you both."

Chat frowned skeptically. He opened his mouth to retort but Ladybug, predicting what he was about to do, covered his mouth with her hand. He rolled his eyes. "Go ahead," she said. "We don't want to fight you, either."

She dipped her head. "Thank you." Folding her arms behind her back, she cleared her throat. "You know all about Blessing and Curse, yes? Good. I thought the girl was a black sorceress."

Chat's eyes widened. _Oh._ Well, fuck. That actually explained a lot.

'Black sorcerer' was the term given to human beings with magical potential that wielded primarily or only Curse's magic. Magic took time, effort, and dedicated study to learn. According to the kwami, Curse's spells could only cause harm. No one in the last few millennia who put forth the amount of effort it took to master that kind of magic did so with good intentions. Fortunately for them, the number of black sorcerers had drastically decreased over the last millennium thanks to science and religions prohibiting magic, but practitioners still existed. Ancient orders and cults that kept the craft alive and the Guardians in business.

Though their kwami had never given them a definitive answer, he and Ladybug were sure that Papillon was one such person.

"I did a little research on Papillon so I could understand what the hell was going on in this city and I figured that he, too, was a black sorcerer." Lisitsa went on. Good, at least someone with experience was confirming their theory. "Based on the girl's behavior, I could tell she was different than…those others."

"The akumatized people?" Ladybug clarified.

"If that's what you call the people who are corrupted by him, then, yes. She was the only one who had been seen three times and no one knew who she really was. I thought they were master and apprentice. It was the only thing that made sense to me. And then I heard that you two were protecting her! I thought you two had betrayed your duty. My treatment of you was wholly justified and that is why I am not sorry."

Chat Noir glared at her yet again.

"But now I understand," she went on. "I was missing critical information. Had I known, I would have behaved very differently. I would have approached you civilly, as equals, and not as traitors."

"I…understand," Ladybug said slowly.

"But I don't care," Chat Noir muttered. He could see where she was coming from but that didn't mean he had to approve of it.

Lisitsa inclined her head. "I expected nothing less. Let me ask you something: why didn't you reveal her identity?"

"We couldn't. Akuma victims aren't in control and they don't remember their actions once they've been freed," he explained. "They can't be held responsible for what they did and everyone generally accepts that. It's what saves them from legal trouble. But L—she was in control this time. For some reason, Papillon let her stay herself."

She nodded. "Firra said this."

"Volpina was not the worst or even the most powerful akuma we've ever faced but she made the biggest spectacle of herself. The whole city was on alert. It made international news. People wanted justice and retribution."

"And she would've deserved it," Ladybug grumbled.

He glanced at her and huffed in agreement. "But we both figured out it was really her in there. If we could, there's a chance other people would, too. If it got out that one person had been in control, it would call everyone else into question. It would put everyone who's ever been an akuma and anyone who will be one in danger of persecution."

"And prosecution."

"We didn't want to and we didn't do it for her. It was for everyone else."

Lisitsa smiled at them and if Chat didn't know any better, he'd say she was _proud_. "I misjudged you both, it seems. I'm sorry."

Chat Noir's eyes widened and he and Ladybug exchanged an incredulous look. Oh, _now_ she apologized.

"When I came here, I came to kill the imposter," she went on, "and Papillon because it seemed you both were unwilling or incapable of doing it yourselves. Now, I wish only to speak with her."

Ladybug cocked her head to the side. "Wait…what?"

The elder Guardian nodded. "I want to speak with her. I swear on my kwami that no harm will come to her. You may even escort me if that is your wish but I—I _need_ to see her. I need to understand and I need her to do the same. …Besides, you can't tell me that neither of you wouldn't like her to get what's coming to her," Lisitsa added with a smirk.

Chat scowled again. _Damn it._ She had them there.

"Give us a minute?" Ladybug asked.

"Of course. I will go wait over there." Lisitsa gestured vaguely in the distance and then leaped off the roof. They watched her go. Chat breathed a little easier.

* * *

Ladybug remembered the anger she had felt at Lila's words. The fury, the indignation, the defensiveness for her fellow unknown Guardian. Now that Guardian was here seeking retribution. What right did Ladybug have to stand in her way? Before she had refused to save Lila's life but now her life was no longer on the line and she couldn't argue that Lisitsa deserved some recompense. If they stood in her way now, against an _outsider_ no less, what did that say about them?

* * *

"Her name is Lila Rossi."

* * *

 **oh shit whaddup**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	30. Trente

**Happy birthday, Miraculous Ladybug! :3**

 **In honor, here's a short but very sweet part.**

* * *

The first time Marinette felt his fear was that very night. It was only for a few moments but it was enough to yank her out of her dream with her heart racing, body shaking, and gasping for air. Disoriented from being jolted awake, it took her time to realize what was going on and by then it was already fading away. She few deep breaths to calm her racing heart and Tikki materialized in front of her face.

"I was afraid of this," she sighed.

"I…was that…what I think it was?" Marinette whispered.

The kwami nodded. "Is it over now?"

"Yes."

"He must've had a nightmare. A very bad one."

Marinette groped blindly at the edge of her mattress and Tikki flew over to fetch the disposable cell phone from its hiding spot for her. Marinette thanked her as she unlocked the phone and pulled up the messages.

 _Are you alright?_ she text.

The reply came almost a minute later.

 _CN: How did you know?_

Marinette hesitated but then decided to just be honest. _It woke me up._

 _CN: Shit._

 _CN: Are you okay?_

Marinette sighed in exasperation. That boy. Got scared enough that she felt it and was asking if _she_ was okay. Of course she was! It had been bizarre and terrifying in and of itself but what he must have dreamed about to feel something like that…. She didn't even want to imagine.

 _Don't._ She sent the text with one hand, pushing the covers away from her body with her other.

 _I asked if YOU are okay._

 _Don't try to downplay it either, I felt you. Do you need to meet back up?_

Marinette was already halfway dressed when his reply came through.

 _CN: Please._

Her parents would be waking up in just a few hours and she doubted she'd be back in time. So just in case they decided to check on her, she stuck a sticky note to the bottom of her trap door with a simple message for them. ' _C and L need me._ _I'll be back as soon as I can. Nothing dangerous.'_

* * *

They met on top of one of the towers of the Notre Dame. Ladybug had thought ahead and brought the black fluffy blanket he'd given her for Christmas. He seemed surprised to see it. He was even more surprised when she unfolded it and threw it around his shoulders. The night air was warm enough that he didn't need it but she hoped he'd appreciate the sentiment behind it.

They sat down together against the wall and he adjusted the blanket so it was covering both of them.

"So," he said softly. "You felt it."

Ladybug nodded. "It was only for a few moments. It was over by the time I figured out what was going on. Wanna talk about it?"

Chat Noir sighed and shook his head. "No…but…"

"Was it me?" she asked quietly. His silence was answer enough. She inhaled deeply and on the exhale, she nuzzled his shoulder with her cheek. "I'm alright, _chaton_."

"I couldn't find you," he rasped. "You were scared and I couldn't find you. Then I couldn't feel you anymore. You were gone."

Chat shivered and she reached for his face. His eyes widened a little when her hand made contact but she didn't stop there. She slid her hand to the back of his head and pulled gently, but insistently. He was confused but he went, never breaking eye contact with her, and she brought his head down to her chest. His ear rested over her heart, letting him hear and maybe feel if the suit allowed it, the undeniable evidence that she hadn't left him.

"I'm here," she murmured.

Quick as a flash, he raised his head, propping himself up with his hands on either side of her hips, and flipped his body around so he could lay down with his legs stretching out to the side. Then he rested his ear against her chest once more and sighed.

Ladybug stroked the top of his head and she felt him go limp. He wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed again, content. Smiling to herself, she continued to gently run her fingers through his hair.

"I'm _here_ ," she promised. "There's nothing to worry about. That's not going to happen."

"You can't promise me that," he mumbled.

Ladybug frowned down at him but he didn't notice. He looked so tired. He'd told her he wasn't alright this morning. After everything with Lisitsa…she had forgotten and she was ashamed of it. How could she have simply let him go home earlier without checking to make sure he was okay? But he was here now and he was relaxed and content.

The loss of their long-time physical boundaries over the past week should probably concern her. Until this point, there had been a line they simply had not crossed. Now not only had they each kissed the other but they had cuddled together in a way that could be considered quite intimate twice in as many days. She should probably do something to reassert those boundaries.

 _Later,_ she told herself. _When he isn't traumatized._

Besides, it was nice. He wasn't heavy against her and she couldn't deny that she felt more at ease now that he was.

"Can we stay like this for a little while, my lady?" Chat Noir asked softly.

Ladybug felt her heart speed up just a bit and knew he would hear it. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Sure, _chaton_. Sure."

* * *

Chat Noir woke up hot. It was a strange feeling. He never slept with more than one blanket and the temperature in his room was carefully regulated to ensure his constant comfort. The only times he'd ever woken up feeling like this was when he was sick. Was he sick? He didn't feel sick. He was lying on his stomach with his upper body propped up on something unusual. It wasn't soft enough to be a mattress but not hard enough to be the ground. Something squishy pressed against his cheek

The city sounded abnormally loud around him and he could hear the distant chatter of many people. Had he left the window open…? And there was a quiet, rhythmic sound in his ear. A heartbeat? He wrinkled his nose, shifting around as he came further into awareness, and breathed deeply.

 _Ladybug._

His eyes flew open. He saw stone and sky and red and black and oh _crap he wasn't in his room and he was laying on top of Ladybug_ _and that_ _squishy thing was her chest!_ Kwami help him, he was a dead man.

After a few seconds, he calmed down enough to assess the situation and remember how the hell he'd gotten into it. They were still on top of the Notre Dame. From the position of the sun, it was probably around noon. He was really freaking _hot_ becauseit was the middle of July and they were on an open rooftop with the sun overhead and they had a black blanket around them. He and Ladybug were most definitely cuddling and had been doing so for several hours if the stiffness in his back was any indication. And most importantly: they seemed to be in the same position from last night, meaning he probably wasn't going to be pulverized because _she_ was the one who'd put him here.

Chat Noir was reluctant to move but that blanket had to go. Unfortunately, it was tangled nicely around their limbs and there was literally no way to get it off without moving. He slowly unwound his arms from her torso. Bracing his hands against the ground, he slowly raised himself off her body and the movement caused her hands, which had been resting on his back, to slip off and hit the ground. Grumbling and groaning, she emerged from sleep with no amount of grace and if the sight of her blinking blearing with her nose scrunched was absolutely adorable then the sleepy way she mumbled his name just about killed him.

"Sorry," he apologized. "But I had to get this blanket off."

Ladybug hummed and then winced. "Ow," she muttered and rolled to the side, carefully straightening her back out with a muffled grunt. It was his turn to wince. She'd slept half sitting up all night while bearing part of his weight. That could not have been comfortable. Yet she'd stayed, soothed him to sleep with her gentle touches, warmth, and just by being _there_. She'd endured the discomfort, probably risked inciting the anger of her parents, all for him. To make sure he was okay.

This was why he loved her.

"Sorry," he said again and placed his hand on her lower back where he assumed the pain was. "Are you alright?"

"My butt is so numb."

The candid response caused him to laugh out loud. She peered over her shoulder at him and stuck her tongue out the moment he caught her eye. His laughter trailed off into quiet chuckling as he rubbed gentle circles on her lower back.

* * *

"Thank you, my lady."

"Any time, _chaton_."

* * *

 **And now back to your regularly scheduled drama courtesy of Lila.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	31. Trente-et-Un

It's my birthday. Here, have a chapter! :3

* * *

Their next meeting with Lisitsa took place atop the Eiffel Tower and was held to devise a strategy. They had to get Lila alone and they had to have a place where their conversation could happen. Isolating her was arguably the easier task. What they needed was somewhere she could not escape with ease and where they would not be overheard. Neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir was entirely comfortable with the idea of essentially kidnapping her but Lisitsa assured them that she could do it herself if they did not want to help. Ladybug still insisted on being present.

"Good," Lisitsa said with a nod. "I will need you there."

It became clear very quickly that Lisitsa was trying to get into their good graces and remain there. When they met up that evening, both Ladybug and Chat Noir immediately noticed that she had started using 'vous'. It was a bit of a surprise since she had been using 'tu' since the get-go but each presumed it was her way of showing deference and chose not to comment. Apart from that, she seemed to consider her words before she spoke.

"Though apart from all this, my biggest concern is what to do when we have her." Lisitsa frowned, drumming her fingers on her leg. "You said her parents were diplomats, correct? From what country?"

"Italy," Chat Noir replied.

She perked up. "Really? Excellent!"

Ladybug tilted her head curiously. "Why?"

"I can actually speak Italian! If she only spoke French, then we'd have a problem."

"Why?"

"I don't speak French," Lisitsa told them in perfect French.

"Wait. _What?"_ Chat blurted out.

Her brow furrowed and then smoothed a moment later and she nodded "Right, of course. You two haven't had a need to travel to a place where your native language isn't spoken. This is another one of those perks you get for being a Guardian. Think back. While you were been transformed, have you ever met a person you couldn't understand? Even a tourist?"

Ladybug opened her mouth to answer but then closed it, frowning.

Growing up in Paris, Marinette was used to hearing different languages around her, mostly from tourists. They were a part of the background noise in the city, something that she could let wash over her as simply as she could the sounds of traffic. She was always aware of it on some level and it didn't bother her. But thinking back, she couldn't remember if they had been there while she was transformed. She couldn't recall a single instance when interacting with someone one on one where she hadn't been able to understand them. Even her uncle, who barely spoke French, had been completely comprehendible while they'd fought him. What were the odds he'd bother speaking French while both akumatized and in the middle of a battle?

"Like this, we're more or less omni-lingual." Lisitsa went on after seeing their blank expressions. "You can only speak the languages you already know but you can understand anyone you hear, regardless of what language they're speaking. Even a dead one. Essentially, the kwami are telling you what the words mean as you hear them. Like a babel fish."

Chat Noir cocked his head to the side. "Wait, so… what have you been speaking this whole time?"

"Russian," she replied. "It's my native language. If you actually tried focusing on my voice, that's what you'd hear."

She let them experiment with their language ability for a good fifteen minutes and answered what questions she could about it. She didn't understand the mechanics of it in depth but she knew it had never failed her even with the kwami of Dishonesty doing the translating.

Chat Noir jumped between French and English. Ladybug wasn't sure how, exactly, but she knew when he was speaking English and when he was speaking French. Maybe it was the slight accent his voice adopted when shifting to the foreign language? She had never paid much attention to it before. Then Chat Noir decided to mix it up and when he started speaking again there was a new accent on his words. Ladybug was on alert immediately. This was a language she didn't know.

There had been plenty of times as Ladybug that she had heard people speaking with accents but hadn't thought much of it. Now she wondered how many of them had actually been speaking French at all.

The accent Chat had at that moment was very, _very_ familiar. "That's Chinese," she blurted out. He stopped speaking and grinned.

"Yeah! Could you hear it?"

She shook her head. "I recognized the accent."

"Accents are a good indication that someone is speaking a different language," Lisitsa commented. "Mandarin?"

Chat nodded.

"You speak Mandarin?" Ladybug blurted out. He nodded. "Fluently?!" He nodded again and preened at the look of awe on her face.

"Fluently enough," he amended after a few seconds.

She continued to stare. "I'm half-Chinese," she blurted out and then mashed her lips together.

Chat perked up. "Really?"

Lisitsa let out a quiet 'huh' and looked between them both with something like amusement on her face.

The challenging part of their endeavor was learning to focus on his voice rather than what he was saying. Only then was Ladybug able to _hear_ the other languages underneath. Lisitsa let them experiment a little while longer, even spoke a few of the languages she knew to give them both a chance to practice. Ladybug noticed that at one point she began using 'tu' again. Knowing now that she wasn't actually speaking French, that meant either Lisitsa had switched back to the Russian equivalent, or Tikki was perceiving her words as being deserving of the informality.

In hindsight, Ladybug truly appreciated that Lisitsa had taken the time to teach them. Their internal translators were such inconsequential details and something that she could've easily told them to ask their kwami about so as to not waste her precious time. Instead, she had mentored them and for a few minutes it was like their rocky start had never even happened. Even Chat Noir had been at ease around her.

* * *

Adrien was doing better. After the one that had terrified him enough to disturb his Lady, his dreams had been normal. The first night he attributed to falling asleep on top of her, surrounded by her warmth and her scent, with no possibility of his mind believing even for a moment that she was gone. The night after he'd been a little concerned but Plagg had been there, snuggled up in the crook of his neck, no questions asked. He'd been alright. And the next night again.

Ladybug was relieved when he told her and as she hugged him, it occurred to him that they had definitely dodged a bullet.

* * *

To her, they were a curiosity. She almost never took her eyes off them when they were together. She followed them on their patrols to learn the city and lend a hand if needed. Sometimes she asked them questions completely out of the blue. Every movement was tracked, every gesture, every glance noted; all their exchanges filed away. Neither of them could understand it. _She_ should be the curiosity to them. She was the elder, the experienced Guardian, the one who knew the secrets they weren't privy to yet, who had full access to all her powers and wielded them with ease. She had been a Guardian at least three if not four or five times as long as them. What could possibly be so interesting?

Ladybug decided to call her out on it on their third night together.

"You really don't have any idea how unique the pair of you are, do you?" Lisitsa asked them. They shook their heads. Unique? "It is extremely rare for two Guardians to be chosen together. It's the ideal scenario but it seldom happens. I've interacted with two other pairs but you're the first I've met that were chosen together. It's…fascinating. You're fascinating."

Well, then.

"There's no power distance between you, or age gap, generational gap, or _cultural_ gap." Lisitsa shook her head. "Your dynamic is nothing like I've seen from the others."

"How?" Chat Noir asked curiously. He'd always wondered what the other Guardians were like. How different they were, what their powers and animals were, what battles they'd fought and enemies they'd faced.

"You're completely equal. With the others, they were partners but one of them was always distinctly in charge," she explained. "The elder directs the younger. But I've seen you defer to her as many times as she's deferred to you." Hands on her hips, Lisitsa gave them a genuine smile. "No wonder the two of you made it so far without help."

* * *

A plan was starting to form. It would be no small task to get Lila somewhere they could speak freely without her making a scene but Lisitsa was undaunted. Before anything could unfold, however, she needed to know the face and scent of her target in order to track her. Lila's photo was easily pulled up online through social media but for her scent they would have to go directly to the source.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Lisitsa alighted on the nearest roof to Lila's home. She was fortunate enough to live in a house in the middle of Paris. The property, which included an open yard with a garden and even a fountain, was enclosed by a large wall. It was late at night so almost all the lights were out except for one on the first floor and there was no sign of anybody inside of the house or out.

Lisitsa removed her flute from its holster on her back and raised it to her lips. A short, quick melody flowed from it and a small black mouse formed on the edge of the roof. "Go," she told it. The mouse leaped into the air and soared towards the house, little legs moving as if it were running across the ground.

"What _is_ that?" Chat Noir asked.

"A mouse," Lisitsa replied, watching her creation go. It ran straight into the wall of the house but there was no puff of smoke to indicate it had been destroyed.

"No, I mean, your flute. It's not…a normal one."

"Oh. It's a _kalyuka_. I prefer it to a concert flute. Much simpler…and it has a nicer sound."

Ladybug cleared her throat. "And what's the mouse doing?"

"Searching for the girl. I can see through its eyes." She frowned. "She's an only child, yes?"

"That we know of."

"I found an infant girl."

"Uh, that's not her." Chat said, frowning.

"Clearly. Poor thing. I hope she does not end up as her sister has. …Ah. There. Found her. She's…awake. On her phone."

Lisitsa cocked her head to the side, eyes staring ahead unfocused. "Ah," she murmured after a moment. She played another melody on her _kalyuka_ and this time, a single wasp appeared. Ladybug tensed and Chat Noir took an automatic step back. Lisitsa paid them no mind and sent her creation into the house.

"What's that for?" Ladybug asked.

"Do you have a better way to get the girl to open her window?" Lisitsa replied, stowing her flute, and then leaped off the roof. She landed on the wall to the property, checked the yard, and then sprang off the wall. She sailed through the air and landed on the edge of the roof with practiced ease.

"She has a point," Chat Noir admitted. "Assuming she doesn't scream and run out of the room."

Lila's sudden scream of terror was quite audible even from a distance and it was enough to startle both heroes into action. They quickly ducked behind the slope of the roof, keeping their heads high enough to see over.

Lisitsa was crouched on the edge of the roof over one of the windows, visible in the dark thanks to her bright suit. The screaming died down but none of the windows opened. They waited. A minute passed and still nothing but Lisitsa didn't move.

Light streamed out of the window beneath Lisitsa as the drapes were pulled back and then the window panes were pulled open. A woman stepped away from the window and said something to someone standing out of sight before disappearing into the room. A few moments passed and then Lisitsa carefully laid herself flat against the roof and leaned her head over the edge. She remained that way for a moment, presumably scenting Lila, then pushed herself to her feet. Motioning for them to follow her, Lisitsa scurried across the roof and leaped onto the wall where Lila wouldn't see her, then off the property.

* * *

Lisitsa asked to have until Saturday to survey and monitor Lila, a task which she did not need their help with now that she knew her face and scent. Content to let the Fox do her thing for the next few days, Marinette decided it was high time she, Alya, Nino, and Adrien did something fun in the sun. Between Volpina and Lisitsa, Marinette had been severely neglecting her friends. Thankfully, the three of them were eager and willing to hang out.

Marinette was excited. She was going to get to see Adrien again! She hadn't seen him in _weeks_. Their year at different schools hadn't lessened her feelings or her attraction to Adrien—in fact, the months that had passed since the beginning of the school year had only served to heighten it. Puberty had come knocking and holy _crap_ had Adrien answered. He'd gone from cute and handsome to _hot_ at some point since Christmas and Marinette didn't know what the hell to even do with that.

Foaming at the mouth certainly was not an option but that didn't leave her very many to choose from. She was just glad she'd been there to see it happen gradually. If she'd gone months without seeing him and he'd just shown up one day looking like he did now, she would not have been responsible for her actions.

Especially if one of those actions had been melting into a puddle on the floor. Knowing her, that was exactly what would've happened.

The four of them decided to go swimming. It would be a perfect distraction from recent events and a fun way to cool off. It also, as it turned out, was an opportunity to get quite an eyeful of Adrien's upper body. Marinette had just about passed out on sight and immediately slammed her lips together before she could revert to her fourteen-year-old self. Alya, being the kind of girl she was and without any feelings of her own towards him, had no qualms about informing Adrien of his new level of physical attractiveness with the utmost tact and decorum.

"OhmyGOD Adrien freaking AGRESTE! Where the heck have you been hiding that _body_?!"

"U-uh, under my clothes?" Adrien stammered sheepishly.

" _Damn boy_. You are hot."

Adrien turned beet red and Marinette just about _died_. Thankfully, they were spared when Nino pouted and Alya turned her attention to him. He was shy. Kwami help her, he was shy! Adrien Agreste, international supermodel, was shy! And nervous and unsure and looking at her for help—

"Well, she's not wrong," Marinette commented blithely, earning a small smile from Adrien.

He didn't look like he could bench press a car or anything but he undoubtedly could lift her with ease. Maybe one-handed. He must've been working out. That had to be it. But he wasn't the only one. Magical suit or no magical suit, one couldn't spend months and months running and doing parkour and fighting monsters all over Paris without seeing some physical changes.

Quick as a flash, Marinette whipped her t-shirt off and smirked when Adrien's eyes flicked up and down her form. She wore a cute black one-piece with pink polkadots, which she chose despite Alya's insistence on a two-piece, in order to hide her abdominal muscles. As far as anyone knew, there was _no_ reason for Marniette Dupain-Cheng, fashion designer and gamer, to be _that_ toned. But her arms and legs were clearly visible, as were the muscles beneath them.

Fourteen year-old Marinette would've had an aneurism.

Sixteen year-old Marinette continued to smirk and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "And if you got it…flaunt it."

* * *

 _Holy_ _ **shit.**_

* * *

As I said before a while ago, French has two forms of 'you' like many other languages: 'tu' and 'vous'. Tu being informal and vous being formal as well as plural. Russian also has informal and formal/plural forms of you, 'Ты' and 'Вы' respectively.

Since Ladybug and Chat Noir are both children, most adults will use the 'tu' form when speaking with them. Lisitsa was no exception. However, in an attempt to show respect and deference, she switched from her language's informal you to the formal one. Tikki and Plagg, recognizing the intent, translated her sentences into the 'vous' form.

As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"


	32. Trente Deux

**fucking _broke_.**

* * *

Alya waited until the exact moment that Adrien and Nino were out of sight and then she seized her by the shoulders. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with Marinette?"

"Wh—what?"

"You. Freaking. Stripped. In Front. Of. Adrien."

"Oh," she mumbled.

" _Oh._ 'Oh,' she says."

Marinette lifted her chin and shrugged her shoulders. "It was only my shirt and it's not like I was naked or anything."

Alya's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"He was uncomfortable," she continued, beginning to feel the same. "Didn't you see his face? He's shy and you called him out."

"He's a model."

"He doesn't model much without his clothes on and I doubt people at photoshoots are screaming about his body the moment his shirt comes off," Marinette pointed out. "I was trying to help him."

Alya snorted. "I think you broke him for like five seconds." She let go of her shoulders. "You got the attention of the guy you like by taking your shirt off with good intentions. I swear, only you."

She started off own the sidewalk and Marinette hurried after her. "Just don't make a big deal out of it, okay?"

"Alright, alright, I won't. I make no promises about Nino, though!"

* * *

Nino was in stitches and Adrien was confused.

"I'm so proud of her!"

Adrien cocked his head. "What?"

"Marinette. She just went and…BAM!" Nino flipped his free hand over his head and continued laughing.

Yeah, Marinette had whipped her shirt off earlier like it was nothing. Granted she'd been wearing a swimsuit and he'd seen her in tank tops before so it wasn't like she'd flashed him anything he hadn't already seen. It had just been quite…unexpected and holy _hell_ those muscles what had she been _doing?!_ He was a superhero and she could probably break him and he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't die happy. His cheeks reddened and Adrien cleared his throat quickly. "And you're proud of her, why?"

"Because she's either getting braver or she's gotten over it."

"Gotten over what?"

Nino stopped dead in his tracks and gave him a look that was as disbelieving as it was unimpressed. "Dude, really?"

"What?"

"Are you serious right now?"

"…Yes?"

"Oh my God it was so obvious that—how did you not notice—oh man." Nino slapped himself in the face and groaned into his palm. "Never mind. Nope."

"Nino," Adrien protested. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. I'm not talking about nothing. Nope, no sir, not anything at all."

"Nino—"

"Nothing to worry about. Forget I said anything."

"Come on, seriously—"

"And, uh, OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME!"

"You're not even wearing a watch!"

"I've gotta go home now and do things and stuff so I'll text you later man! _Salut_!"

"Nino!" Adrien shouted in exasperation but Nino was already halfway up the block, ducking and weaving through the crowds like a pro. Poor Adrien was left by himself on the corner, extremely confused, and wondering what the hell Nino thought Marinette had gotten over.

* * *

The four of them were supposed to have lunch together the next day but Alya and Nino weren't able to come due to _sudden unavoidable circumstances_ that conveniently arose within half an hour of their arranged meeting time. She was going to maim them both.

It was a small café. There were a few other patrons sitting at the other tables conversing quietly in French and English. No one was paying them any attention, which was a huge relief. Sometimes Adrien was recognized when they were out and things could get interesting. Fortunately, being Ladybug, Marinette was good at coming up with exit strategies and the three of them knew exactly how to whisk Adrien away without causing too much of a scene.

Adrien sat across from her, quietly eating his sandwich and staring at the table top. Marinette felt herself growing more embarrassed with every passing second. They hadn't been like this for a long time. His sudden withdrawal had to be because of yesterday. What else could it be? Dammit, she'd only been trying to help him. Figures she would make it worse.

Well, Marinette was not going to let things be weird between them. No sir. They'd managed to swim together after her moment of temporary insanity and they were going to remain normal if it was the last thing she did.

"About yesterday…" At the sound of her voice, Adrien looked up and blinked himself back into the present. He waited and Marinette licked her lips. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. You just looked so uncomfortable and I was honestly trying to help…"

"I wasn't—I mean—you didn't upset me or anything," he reassured her hastily and set down his sandwich. "Shocked the hell out of me but I didn't mind—I mean—I've seen you in a tank top before and I'm used to seeing girls wearing less than—oh my god I'm just going to stop now." Redder than Ladybug's suit, he buried his face in his arms. Marinette giggled and he burrowed deeper.

She reached across the table and patted the top of his head reassuringly. "I get what you mean."

A moment passed and then a pair of green eyes carefully peeked out from behind his arms. She pressed her lips together to hold back another giggle and he immediately retreated. Rolling her eyes, Marinette reached for his sandwich. "Well, if you're going to spend the rest of the time under there, I guess I might as well eat this. Wouldn't want it to go to waste…"

With an undignified little yelp, Adrien's head snapped up and he lifted his arms, bringing them down around his plate and cutting off her access. "Nope. Mine."

Marinette laughed out loud and withdrew her hand. She wouldn't actually take food from him. Rich boy or not, good meals were hard for him to come by. She knew he was still on that god awful dietary regimen and she was pretty sure certain parts of this sandwich were _not_ on that list. And, ooh, that gave her an idea.

"So, what do you say we completely ruin your diet for the day?"

She'd caught him just as he was taking a bite. He threw her an annoyed glance but she waited patiently for him to finish chewing. "I'm listening," he said once his mouth was empty.

Half an hour and one metro ride later, they each had a ticket in their hands and were in line for popcorn and candy at the cinema with plans to spend every single euro in his pocket on both.

* * *

There was no patrol tonight. She wasn't due to see Chat Noir again until tomorrow for their Friday patrol and she was still riding on the high from her day with Adrien. Even if he didn't see it that way, their whole outing had all the makings of a date and Marinette couldn't be happier. It was nice to pretend she was still a normal teenager. Even now, transformed and sitting on top of a random roof, staring across the twinkling lights of the city, she could convince herself that she was just a normal girl. As much as she enjoyed Chat's company, she couldn't pretend when he was there. Everything about him was a reminder of who she really was.

Ladybug smelled her coming before she heard her, a scent on the wind that was quickly becoming familiar. She was downwind from her so there was no guarantee the Fox would even know she was there. Unless she had night vision like Chat Noir. She hoped not. She wanted to be alone. …She could always run but that wouldn't help maintain the illusion of normalcy. When she heard the footsteps coming, too light to be her partner's, and knew that both her solitude and fantasy were over anyway.

"Have you ever been outside the city, little beetle?"

"A few times."

"Ever been outside the city during the night? Have you ever seen a night without light pollution?"

Ladybug shook her head.

"It's something, certainty." Lisitsa sat down next to her. "Imagine all of that…" she gestured at the sea of lights before them, "but up there." She threw her hand up and Ladybug looked at the sky. She'd seen pictures of course but never with her own eyes. "I'd show you but, uh, something that big would make me transform back for sure."

"It's alright," she assured her.

"Where I've been living, not only can you see the stars every night, but the northern lights as well." There was a smile in her voice. "They're very pretty. Coming here, though, there's almost nothing. It's sad. Empty. One night you need to go out of the city and see the real sky. Take your cat boy, make a date out of it."

Ladybug whipped her head around. "What?" she squeaked.

The elder Guardian grinned. "Nothing like the solitude of the wilderness and a starry sky for a bit of romance…"

"R-romance?!" Ladybug felt her face heating up and she was sure she was going to match her suit in about ten seconds if Lisitsa didn't stop.

To her surprise, she did. The teasing grin fell away and was replaced by a look of concern. "You don't have feelings for him?"

"No! I—I mean…he and I are just friends," she mumbled. "Best friends, partners, but I don't—I mean—I love him—but I don't _love_ love him. Not like that."

"I see."

They were both quiet for a few minutes. The heat slowly left Ladybug's cheeks and she was left wondering what she had done to give the impression she was romantically interested in Chat Noir. Was it the way they acted? Spoke? Was it the touches they exchanged? All of the above? Did Chat see it, too? Had she been leading him on without realizing? That wasn't fair.

"You do know that he loves you, right?" Lisitsa asked softly.

Ladybug stiffened and looked up. "You think he loves me?"

"Oh, yes. Very much. More than he knows what to do with."

She knew _exactly_ what Lisitsa was talking about and she shook her head. "He's a terrible flirt. He's always been like that. I flirt back because it's fun and it's easy, not because it means anything."

"You must have noticed the way he looks at you…and the way you look at him."

"He's always looked at me like that."

"Wow. Poor kid. Little beetle, think what you want, but that kid has it bad. If you're right, then he's been falling for you from the start. I saw him looking at you once when you weren't paying attention…" she trailed off. Ladybug waited. "That was the face of a boy who's smitten."

"He doesn't love me," she insisted. "He _can't_."

Lisitsa gently placed her hand on her shoulder. "Why not?"

She swallowed. "Because…there's someone…a boy. We used to go to school together. He's a friend of mine. I like him a lot. I might even love him. I've been spending time with him a lot. We sort of had a date today."

"Sort of?" she asked skeptically then sighed. "Do you think you will marry him? Wait, let me rephrase that: could you see yourself marrying him?"

"Where did that come from?"

"Humor me."

Ladybug exhaled quietly, puffing out her cheeks. "I think I'd say yes in a heartbeat if he asked."

"Interesting. So he is someone you would trust your secrets with?"

She nodded.

"All of them? Would you transform in front of him if it were okay and completely safe?"

She took a moment to think about it but ultimately nodded again.

"Would you allow him to…" her fingers ghosted the edge of Ladybug's ear and she flinched away automatically, "…touch your Miraculous? Would you let him hold your kwami while she slept? Would you trust him with Chat Noir if he was hurt?"

Ladybug opened her mouth, closed it, and swallowed nervously. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because you're not the first Guardian to fall in love with someone who isn't one of us, not by a long shot. And like they did, you will have to make a decision one day. You will either trust him with your Three—Miraculous, kwami, partner—or you will trust him with nothing. Because in order for him to live with you, he must know you. Keeping in the dark will not only prove impossible but it will hurt him. Can you trust him to keep your secret even if he one day were to leave you? If Chat Noir were injured and completely vulnerable, could you leave him with this boy and not, even for an instant, wonder if it wasn't the right thing to do?"

Ladybug tried to swallow but it felt like there was something stuck in her throat. "I…he wouldn't betray me. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body."

"Then he will not survive in our world," she warned her. "As the husband of a Guardian, he will likely see more than one battle in his lifetime. He will have to face the prospect of you fighting for your life on a constant basis, of possibly dying. He can never have children with you. There's another question for you: _can_ you bring him into our world?"

"I…"

Lisitsa leaned closer. "You must be certain. I know this is a lot to ask you since you're so young but there is no point in pursuing a relationship with this boy if you are unwilling to bear the risks and responsibilities. And Chat Noir, of course. There will come a day when you know each other's identities and this boy of yours will have to know, too, since you will all be living in close proximity. Will this boy be able to accept that there is already a man in your life whom you are completely devoted to?"

Ladybug shrank back.

"Chat Noir, possibly his successor, will be a central part of your life until you die. More than even your husband can be."

"Please stop," Ladybug whispered.

Lisitsa smiled sympathetically. "It wasn't my intent to frighten you but I want you to understand the enormity of what you're facing by loving an outsider. Don't make the same mistakes that so many of us have. Protect your heart, protect your Three. If you are not certain then don't take the risk. Not with this."

 _Us?_ Ladybug thought and glanced at Lisitsa's face. Her mask hid most of her features but the old pain in her eyes was clearly visible. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, replace by mischievousness.

"You could do a lot worse than Chat Noir, y'know." She cracked a grin. "I mean it. Just because I can't remember what he looks like doesn't mean I don't know a handsome face when I see one. He's willing to fight for you and protect you. Loyal, protective, handsome, completely smitten…."

"You're terrible," Ladybug muttered.

"I'm just saying," the woman sing-songed before laughing. "But in all seriousness, you should probably let him know that there's someone you like. It might seem frightening but you two are going to be spending your lives together. Communication is key."

"I don't want to hurt him."

"Little beetle, there is no way around that. You are going to break his heart but you have to make sure you don't break _him_. Tell him the truth. If he is even half the young man I perceive him to be then he will respect your decision and wish you nothing but happiness. But he'll need time to heal and to accept your decision. It would be cruel for you to spring this on him and then immediately expect him to accept and meet the guy."

Ladybug pressed her lips together. She could see the wisdom in Lisitsa's words but the prospect was terrifying. She didn't want to hurt him. She liked what they had and she didn't want to lose it or him but wouldn't it be crueler to let it continue instead of being honest? If it would minimize the damage and spare him more pain in the long run, she would have to be brave. They would find a new rhythm eventually.

Her poor, poor kitten.

* * *

The next evening while Marinette was sketching out a new design idea, Tikki suddenly flew into her line of sight. "Marinette!"

Marinette jerked her head back in surprise and nearly dropped her pencil. "What is it?"

"Get up! We have to go right now!" she exclaimed. "Firra is calling us. Lisitsa has Lila!"

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **Lisitsa askin' the important questions.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	33. Trente Trois

**ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ**

* * *

Ladybug followed a silent but insistent nudging from her kwami towards a part of the city she had never been to for anything other than an akuma fight. Lisitsa was waiting for her on a roof, just out of sight from the street.

"Saturday!" Ladybug shouted when she landed in front of her. "We agreed on Saturday!"

Lisitsa dipped her head. "I know. I apologize. But I overheard her speaking of a vacation and that they were leaving tomorrow. There is no way of knowing when she will return. It could be a week or the end of the summer and I cannot remain that long! I must get back before the sorcerer moves on! I could not wait."

"Okay…okay, I get it." Ladybug sighed and rubbed her temples. "Where is she now?"

For an answer, Lisitsa pointed down at the street. "There is an entrance to the catacombs near here. Not one of the tourist areas, either. She's down there, detained. I have very weak projection down there keeping an eye on her."

"Oh my god," she muttered. She knew about the catacombs, of course, what Parisian didn't? She had never been in them. Neither of her parents thought it was something a young child needed to see and she hadn't had any desire to see them herself when she was old enough to not be terrified by them. She'd seen pictures, though, and she suddenly had a mental image of Lila surrounded by human remains in the dark.

"Where's Chat Noir?"

"I don't know," Ladybug replied quickly, shaking her head to dispel the image. "I tried calling him but he isn't transformed. He'll probably try to call me once he does. But I can't go down there without him."

Lisitsa cocked her head to the side. "Why not?"

"Other than just showing a united front, Lila hates me. We'll have a better chance of convincing Lila to keep quiet if it's all of us."

"Oh, trust me, she'll keep quiet once I'm finished with her," Lisitsa growled.

* * *

Ladybug's communicator rang ten minutes later, followed by a mess of apologizes and half-formed excuses from Chat Noir that she dismissed with a shake of her head. "You haven't missed anything," she reassured him.

" _What's going on?"_ he demanded.

She glanced at the Fox Guardian crouching a few feet away. "Lisitsa overheard Lila talking about leaving on vacation tomorrow so she decided to take her now. I'm waiting on you before I go down there."

" _Down 'there'?"_

"She has her detained down in an abandoned part of the catacombs, apparently."

" _What?!"_

"Just hurry up and get here."

* * *

Chat Noir's face was red when he arrived, as if it had been scrubbed vigorously recently. Ladybug raised her eyebrows at the odd sight but chose not to comment. Now was not the time for the conversations that could result.

Lisitsa dipped her head in greeting to him. "She is beneath our feet in an abandoned section of the Parisian catacombs. It is not easy to reach and there is no risk of anyone discovering her while we're here. So before we go down, I have something to ask you both."

Ladybug nodded.

"I have been thinking and I know we have not discussed this but…she deserves some manner of punishment for her actions against this city. Do you not agree?"

They glanced at each other uncertainly. "That depends," Chat Noir said slowly, "on what you have in mind."

* * *

When Ladybug said catacombs, Chat Noir had expected something like _Cimetière des Innocents._ Not…this. Uneven floors, stone, ancient wood, and something vaguely forbidding that seemed to seep from the walls. It was surprisingly warm. The air was stale and dusty and apart from Lisitsa and Lila, he could smell no traces of any other humans. No one had been down here in a very long time. Chat Noir was almost afraid to ask Lisitsa how she even knew about this place. He certainly didn't. The entrance they'd taken wasn't one just any person could have found, either. Did anyone even know this still _existed_?

Both he and Lisitsa could see in the dark but Ladybug wasn't willing to let Chat Noir guide her through such intense darkness and was using her communicator screen to light the way. Her other hand gripped his like a lifeline.

"Not much further," Lisitsa promised them quietly. "She's detained."

"You won't hurt her," Chat reiterated.

"I won't kill her," the elder Guardian corrected, "but I won't let her get an attitude with me."

He wasn't sure there would be a chance of that.

A quiet, strangled wail reached his human ears then and his cat ears perked up. It came again and it sounded suspiciously like a cry for help. That was Lila's voice, very close. She must be able to see the light from Ladybug's screen.

Lisitsa's definition of "detained" wasn't very secure at all. Lila was gagged with her shirt and her hands were tied behind her back but otherwise she had been left to her own devices. Not that it mattered. Lila was clearly smart enough not to try and run when she was deep underground and completely in the dark. She was huddled against the wall in a tiny ball and Chat Noir could _smell_ her fear. He'd never been able to smell an individual's fear before, only in situations where a large group of people were all scared. Maybe it had something to do with the enclosed space and lack of proper airflow. He wasn't sure.

Lila yelled something that he couldn't make out around the gag, eyes were wide and terrified. She struggled against her bindings and let out another muffled wail.

Chat Noir frowned and stopped walking. This wasn't right. This wasn't what he had signed up for. This wasn't having a 'talk' with her. She'd been kidnapped, bound, left down in an abandoned mine, and she was _terrified for her_ _life_!

Ladybug continued on ahead a few paces before stopping. Lisitsa halted, too, and both gave him questioning looks.

He shook his head. "No," Chat growled softly. "I don't like this. This isn't…"

Lisitsa inclined her head. "I understand. Have faith, please. This is necessary."

"No!" Chat retorted louder. Lila froze, eyes widening even further, and then she squinted at the light. "This is not what we agreed to!"

"It is necessary," Lisitsa repeated at the same volume. "We are away from prying eyes and ears and do you notice how she is not an akuma? You told me herself that Papillon favors her. Surely her emotional state is enough for him to target her again. Yet he has not. Assuming he can even sense her down here, he obviously cannot find her."

"I—ARGH!" Chat snarled. "This is still wrong!"

"Terrorizing a city is wrong," Ladybug replied quietly but he could tell from the look on her face that she was about as thrilled about this as he was.

" _LADYBUG,_ " Lila screamed around her gag hatefully. Ladybug glanced at her in annoyance.

"Ten minutes," Lisitsa said. "Give me ten minutes and if you still wish to leave then we will return her to the surface safe and sound. Deal?"

 _NO!_ Chat Noir wanted to say but before he could, the voice of his kwami flitted through his mind.

 _Kid, listen to me. You're a good person and you don't want to hurt people even though we're Destruction. I respect that about you. But whether you like it or not, you're a part of this. The girl recognized your voices. If you let her go and she tells…you can kiss your hero status goodbye._

Chat gritted his teeth at his kwami's words and shook his head. "Fine. FINE. Ten minutes. But that's _it!_ "

"Thank you." Lisitsa ducked her head.

Walking ahead of them, Lisitsa entered the field of light from Ladybug's communicator, creating a shadow on Lila. She glared up at the Guardian defiantly. Chat had to hand it to her, she had guts. Were he not a Guardian himself, he doubted he could be as bold as she was if he was in her position.

"Listen to me very careful, _girl_ ," Lisitsa growled and Chat noticed the shift in accent immediately. She must have switched to Italian. "It's not my intent to hurt you. I just want to have a conversation with you. But if you scream, if you try to run, I will leave you here and the odds of anyone finding you before you are pile of bones are slim. Do we understand each other?"

Lila's eyes bugged out of her head and she nodded quickly.

"Good." Lisitsa pulled her flute from its holder and played a short, succinct melody. A lit gas lantern appeared on the ground between her feet and Lila's, illuminating the space around them.

Ladybug flipped her compact shut and returned it to her belt. She backed away and stood beside Chat, just out of the light. Lila glared in their direction for a moment until her attention was pulled back by Lisitsa kneeling in front of her. Reaching for her face, she pulled the gag out of Lila's mouth. Lila worked her jaw, flicking her tongue to rid it of the taste of the fabric. Lisitsa leaned away and gave her a few moments to recover.

"Who are you?" Lila demanded.

Lisitsa grinned wickedly, revealing two rows of white teeth. "I am Lisitsa, the Fox. The _real_ Fox," she growled.

Lila's jaw dropped. "I—you— _what_?!"

"You heard me. I am Lisitsa. I was once Volpina. And it is _my_ reputation that you are besmirching with your petty games."

Lila stared at her for at least ten seconds while a range of emotions flitted across her face, first disbelief, then fear, then disbelief again, followed by fear, and finally a sneer. "And?"

Lisitsa's furry tail lashed once and without breaking eye contact with Lila, she said, "Such impudence. You weren't exaggerating."

"Not in the least," Ladybug replied tersely.

The Italian girl shot her a withering look. "Really? Couldn't risk people knowing what you're really like so you brought in some weird chick in a—"

Lisitsa's hand whipped out and seized Lila's face, pinching her cheeks between her fingers and thumb. Lila's words died in her throat and she tried to shake her head free but Lisitsa's grip was firm. "Those two are the only reason you're still alive," she warned her. "In fact, they're here to make sure I don't kill you. But, of course, there's nothing stopping them from simply leaving. Anything could happen then."

"You're bluffing!" Lila spat.

"Am I?"

The Guardian's voice was as smooth but as cold as ice and Lila's confidence visibly wavered. "Y-you said you wouldn't hurt me!"

"Death can be painless." Lisitsa released her mouth. "Those two have morals that prevent them from giving you what you deserve but I do not. I could kill you and sleep easy tonight and every night hereafter. Make no mistake, _girl_ , if you push me then this tunnel will be your grave."

Lila gulped and her bravado faded, leaving behind the terrified girl they had found when they arrived. "Wh-what do you want from me?! My p-parents are diplomats! We have money."

"I want you to listen to me…and listen well." Lisitsa leaned close. "The Fox has always been the embodiment of dishonesty, trickery, and deceit. You may think you were merely living up to the mantle but you have done the exact opposite. I have been told that you took the name 'Volpina' because you had knowledge of my deeds when I bore than name."

"That was decades ago!" Lila blurted out. "How can you be her?"

Chat Noir was wondering the same thing, actually. This whole confrontation so far had been riddled with lies, most of which were told for intimidation, and he wasn't surprised considering who she was. But Lisitsa had also seemed personally offended by Lila using the name and appearance of Volpina. The way she'd spoken about it implied that _she_ had been Volpina…which wasn't possible. If Volpina really had been around so long ago then how could she and Lisitsa be the same person when the latter didn't look over thirty.

Lisitsa smirked. "You live in a city terrorized by a man who can alter people with butterflies, have fought a boy who can destroy with a single touch, and have yourself created illusions with thought and music…and you question how I was Volpina?"

Lila didn't have an answer for that.

"As I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, the Fox is a trickster, yes. I am a better liar than could ever hope to be but I have always been on the side of life. And so have my predecessors. Our powers and abilities are meant to protect!"

She continued to stare wordlessly and Lisitsa growled, ears going flat. She seized Lila by the shirt and jerked her forward. "The Fox exists to protect humankind! I have sacrificed more than you will _ever_ understand. You have disgraced me…and every other like me with your impudence, your greed, and your disregard for life. And for what?!"

Chat Noir flinched. Damn, she was pissed. More than he'd realized. He wondered exactly what she was feeling. He'd been through this once, months and months ago, when that artist had been akumatized. L'Imposteur had attempted to destroy his already tenuous reputation and had succeeded in turning the cops against him but Chat Noir had long since acknowledged that he had brought that on himself. In a moment of petty jealousy, he had gloated and rubbed and his and Ladybug's (nonexistent) relationship in that man's face. But he had never been akumatized again and nor had his actions caused any lasting damage. But Lila…

"Answer me!" Lisitsa shoved Lila back into the wall and released her. "Why did you claim to be me?"

Lila squeaked.

"Speak now or I will silence you forever," she threatened.

Lila opened her mouth and then closed it, swallowing. "It—I…it was just…I was just trying to impress him," she whispered.

"Speak up, girl."

"I was just trying to impress him. This boy at school. Adrien. I just wanted to impress him."

Chat Noir was completely unsurprised by the answer. It was almost word for word what they had told Lisitsa themselves. Lila had been on the shit lists of the three girls he was friends with at school and had a threat from Marinette hanging over her head which kept her from getting close to him. With them out of the way for summer, she'd swooped in hoping to make her move and with his opinion of her clouded by his friends, she'd tried to make a strong impression. While he hadn't truly believed that she was a Guardian, only Ladybug's lucky and timely intervention had saved him from her lies.

Lisitsa considered Lila for a moment. "I suppose now is a prudent time to inform you that I can tell when I am being lied to. Now try again."

Lila's jaw worked soundlessly and she shook her head from side to side. "I…"

"Why is this important?" Ladybug muttered. Lisitsa whipped her head around, growling, and Chat Noir hissed back automatically. She put her hand on his arm and he was almost upset at how the touch alone was enough to steady him. "We already told you," she clarified.

"And she said the same thing as you…and yet it was a lie." Lisitsa turned back to Lila. "The last one I will tolerate. So, tell us, girl: _why_?"

Lila clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She struggled with herself for a long minute and when she spoke again the words were forced and pained. "Because I wanted him to want me the way he wanted Ladybug."

Lisitsa hummed thoughtfully but she at least seemed satisfied with this answer. "Lust, then."

Lila did not respond but her shamed silence and averted gaze were answer enough. Chat felt sick to his stomach. The two answers were almost the same but the wording and implications behind it made all the difference.

Ladybug scoffed in disgust and Chat Noir looked down at her. Nose wrinkled and chin tucked, she looked offended by Lila's confession. He didn't blame her. Hell, _he_ was offended! What had Lila been planning to do if she'd convinced him she was a hero? Friendship? Dating? The truth would've come out eventually. Something simpler, then? …Had it really all started because she wanted in his pants?

"I will give you a piece of advice," Lisitsa told her, "from one liar to another. No relationship built on dishonesty can ever hope to last. How do you think that poor boy would have felt if you had been dating when you were exposed?"

 _Like shit,_ Chat thought.

"You doomed yourself the moment you decided to lie to him, just as you will continue to do for the rest of your life until you learn."

Lila, at the very least, seemed humbled by her words. He dared to hope Lisitsa was getting through to her.

"Back to the matter at hand." Lisitsa straightened up and folded her arms. "I could have pardoned you if your transformations and actions had been merely the result of Papillon's vendetta. But it is my understanding that your actions this most recent time were yours and yours alone. Do you deny it?"

Staring at the ground, Lila shook her head.

"You have disgraced me. You turned the eyes of the world onto this city and have tarnished my name, my legacy, in a way that will not be forgotten for a long time. What you have done affects me and all my successors. That cannot go unpunished. I will not allow it."

Lila flinched, hunching her shoulders.

The elder Guardian looked at Chat Noir and Ladybug for consent. He took a deep breath, hoped yet again that he would not regret this, and nodded. Ladybug did, too. Lisitsa lifted her right hand and after a long moment, dark pink light began to form around her hands.

 _Curse!_ Plagg hissed in his mind, rather belatedly. She had told them this would involve using Curse's power from the start, which was why he was hesitant to agree to this plan of hers. The only reason. The idea itself was actually pretty clever and it was nothing less than Lila deserved. But Curse… The Guardians existed because Curse ran rampant around the world. Their purpose was to neutralize those like the black sorcerers who threatened the tenuous balance between the different magical aspects. Using Curse felt…wrong.

"What is that?" Lila demanded with a trace of her usual self.

"Magic," Lisitsa replied matter-of-factly. Before Lila had a chance to even process that, the Guardian flicked her wrist and her entire body glowed with the same pink. Lila shrieked in alarm, scrambling away from her, and pushed off the wall with her hand. The light did not fade.

"What are you doing to me?!"

"Remember well: words have weight and from now on, you will feel that weight." The Guardian intoned. "The greater the lie, the heavier its burden. They will catch in your throat, one after the other, like blockage in a drain, clogging it, robbing you of air. Speak your lies if you wish but only the truth will absolve you."

"WHAT?!" Lila shrieked several octaves above normal.

The pink light faded. Lisitsa released her and she crumpled to the ground.


	34. Trente Quatre

Mr. and Mrs. Rossi were shocked when Ladybug arrived on their doorstep that night. They were almost ready to go to the police. The only reason they hadn't already was their hesitance to call attention to her absence. Lila went off on her own sometimes and she had been in a…mood recently. She could not have been aware of her actions as an akuma but the incident had clearly had an impact on her. They feared bringing her into the spotlight could also bring her recent behavior to it as well.

Their shock soon gave way to panic at the sight of the heroine's expression. Had she been transformed _again_? Ladybug quickly reassured them that their daughter was not, in fact, a rampaging akuma…but she could be again. And likely would be.

"Which is why she needs to leave the city," Ladybug said. "Immediately and indefinitely."

"Why?" Mr. Rossi asked. "Where is she supposed to go?"

"Anywhere. We don't care. Out of the country would be best. You just have to keep her _away_ from Paris and out of Papillon's reach."

"What happened? Where is she?"

Ladybug clasped her hands behind her back. "She…is safe. Chat is bringing her."

"What happened?" Mrs. Rossi demanded more firmly than her husband had.

The heroine averted her eyes. "I think you two should sit down. There's something I have to tell you."

* * *

They handled the news that their daughter was a terrorist…rather well. Or maybe their experience as political figures had given them the ability to internalize the hell out of their emotions. Ladybug wasn't sure. They didn't scream or yell and they didn't demand she leave or anything outlandish. Just two simple questions: "Are you sure?"

Ladybug nodded. "Why else would we keep her identity a secret?"

And: "Where was she today?"

"The hero who she impersonated wanted a word."

(Later, she would learn that Lila had not uttered a single word for days after. Not in defense as her parents grilled her over her actions, not even to protest being sent back home to Italy.)

* * *

They met up again later that night after going home to diffuse any situations that may have arisen with their families. Chat Noir clearly had not calmed down in the intervening hours because it was well past midnight and he was pacing in front of the fountain in the little park they were in. Tail lashing, ears pinned against his head, he reminded her of an agitated cat pacing in front of a a window.

Ladybug sat sideways on the edge of the fountain and waited for him to get it out of his system. She wasn't sure how else to help him when she was just as torn over the events of earlier. What happened down in the catacombs was _not_ what they'd agreed to. Sure it had been both secluded and at night just like they'd stipulated but…dear God they hadn't meant for Lisitsa to drag the kid underground and _leave_ her there alone in the dark for half an hour. Nor had they expected her to be so rough.

And the curse… should they have agreed to allow that? A vindictive part of her was glad to see Lila finally get her just desserts but would she have agreed if she'd had a day to think about it? What exactly had they sentenced Lila to? And it had been Curse! _Curse!_ They were supposed to fight _against_ Curse, not use it! Tikki had even warned her when it had manifested. Was she going to be mad at her? Disappointed?

Why did Lisitsa even know how to use Curse?!

"AAGH!" Ladybug slammed her fist against the surface of the water. Leaning forward, she propped her elbows on her knees and pressed her head into her hands. Chat Noir was by her side in an instant. She saw him reach towards her, hesitate, before settling his hand on her thigh. She looked up. "Did we do the right thing, Chat?"

"I don't…" he trailed off abruptly and furrowed his brow. "I wish I knew but I… did we?"

"Should we have stopped her?"

"Plagg told me not to. He said we were already in too deep. Was he right?"

Ladybug considered this for a moment. "Was he wrong, though?"

He growled quietly and the tip of his tail _clinked_ as it whipped across the ground. "I hate this morality-based stuff. We think it was wrong but Lisitsa obviously doesn't and the kwami don't but they'd probably condone murder if it—" He gritted his teeth to stop the angry flow of words and then growled quietly. "This is so messed up."

She laughed humorlessly. "Tell me about it. We let a so-called hero Curse someone."

Chat Noir was quiet. She glanced at him, trying to gauge his expression. Biting his lip, he looked at her and then away. "I'm actually…" He trailed off and pulled himself onto the edge of the fountain in front of her. Ears flat, he met her eyes hesitantly. "I think what she did was alright. Lila deserved it. She actually deserved a lot worse but I'm okay settling with that. I just wish it hadn't involved Curse. Why does she even know black magic?"

"We should ask her," Ladybug decided. "There _has_ to be a reason."

"Yeah but can we really trust her to tell us the truth?" he grumbled. "She was lying through her teeth down there."

"To Lila. But she's been open and honest with us."

"As far as we know."

Ladybug swallowed, shaking her head slowly. "She's promised to help us with Papillon. If we turn on her, I mean…what's to stop her from backing out on her end of the deal?"

He growled again. "What indeed." Noticing her expression, he brushed his fingers across her cheek. "But we won't let her do that, will we?"

"Chat…"

"Yes, my Lady?"

"You…" Ladybug bit her lip. Was now really the best time? So much had happened in the last few days. She was letting him come closer and closer, silently beckoning him by responding to his gentle touches instead of rebuking them. Lisitsa was right, she had to tell him. This was so unfair to him. But they needed to be a united front now more than ever and he was already in turmoil. Telling him now would be kicking him while he was down.

"Nothing. Never mind."

* * *

Pictures of their midnight rendezvous had somehow made their way to the Ladyblog. Marinette wondered why she was even surprised and did her best to feign interest as Alya gushed over the submissions the next day when she had the the three of them, Nino and Adrien included, over for lunch. The photos showed them sitting together on the fountain during various points in their conversation and there was even one of Chat Noir as he'd touched Ladybug's cheek. From the way Alya went on, you'd have thought she'd just won the lottery.

"My ship is sailing!" she insisted. Nino rolled his eyes, Adrien laughed under his breath, and Marinette tried not to blush.

Clearly it had been wise to not broach the topic last night but she would need to soon. Her heart was set on the boy sitting across from her at the table. _He_ was the one she wanted to be with, to fall asleep and wake up with, to hold, laugh with, and love. Chat Noir was…her _chaton_ …her partner, her best friend, and up until this week, the only one who had an inkling of what her life was really like. She loved him dearly but… it was platonic and it had to stay that way. She didn't want to be leading him on but that's exactly what she felt like she was doing and that was unfair, to him more so than her.

But, kwami help her, she didn't want to hurt him. She didn't know if she would be able to forgive herself for breaking his heart.

* * *

They were to see Lisitsa one more time before she left. With her mission over, duty called her back to Russia and the black sorcerer she pursued. Hopefully, she would have him dealt with within e next few months and then she would return to help them. They just had to hold out until then, which shouldn't be a problem considering they'd lasted this long.

Lisitsa arrived to their meeting place after both of them and, to her credit, almost instantly noticed their guarded expressions and tense postures. She kept a respectful distance from them as she said, "So, I take it that neither of you has come to terms with Friday evening?"

"No," Chat Noir answered.

She sighed and shook her head. "I should've expected. …What was it, then? The location? How I treated her? The curse?"

"All of the above."

Another sigh, this one of disappointment. "While I admire your pristine morals—"

" _How_ was any of that okay!?" Ladybug demanded harshly. "You kidnapped her! You abandoned her in the catacombs for God knows how long!"

"You used Curse!" Chat Noir added. "Never mind what you did to her—you used bad magic!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Lisitsa held up her hand. "Let me stop you right there. Curse is _not_ inherently bad. You'll learn about magic when you're older, for now, basically, magic can be divided up into two categories: harmful and helpful. Curse and Blessing."

Chat Noir took a step forward and cocked his head to the side. "But… Guardians exist to keep Curse in check."

"Curse was once a god, remember? Before humanity learned to wield it, it was simply a neutral force in this world, same as blessing. Its nature is negative but its wielders are what make it bad. A true sorcerer is skilled in both aspects of magic." Lisitsa held out her hands. "I can do some of both. You both could, too, with proper time and study."

Chat and Ladybug exchanged nervous glances. "But… Papillon…" he started to say.

"Chat Noir, of the two of you, you're more likely to have an affinity with Curse. Destruction and Curse are both negatively aligned. Hell, with your destructive power, you can do more damage than a lot of curses," she added wryly. "But are you evil?"

"No…" he said slowly.

"And if you learned how to use Curse, would you use it for evil?"

"No."

"Exactly. I think it was Shakespeare who penned 'there is nothing either good or  
bad, but thinking makes it so'. This philosophy applies to anything. Even lies." She smirked. "If I were to lie to you, you would think it wrong. But did you think it was wrong of me to lie to Lila the way I did?"

Chat glanced at Ladybug again and rubbed the back of his neck. Pursing her lips, Ladybug lowered her gaze and kicked at the ground with her foot. Neither had an answer for that.

"Exactly," Lisitsa repeated. "Now, as for the other things, I am sorry that they unfolded in a way that upset you. But to be quite honest, I could have done much worse. I could have left her down there all night but instead I had Firra summon your kwami immediately. I could've broken her bones, physically scarred her, screamed at her until she cried…any number of things. But I didn't. And yet you still think I was too harsh on her."

She began walking towards them. "Which begs the question: what do you plan to do with Papillon when you finally catch him?"

Her question brought the younger Guardians up short and in that moment it dawned on them that they never had given much thought to it. Then with growing horror, they both realized they had absolutely no idea what they were going to do. For so long their mission had simply been stopping the akuma and…keeping their eyes out for Papillon. Papillon's defeat was the ultimate goal but only recently had they been given the knowledge to deduce that he was a black sorcerer but they knew nothing about stopping them. What _were_ they going to do with him!?

Could you put black sorcerer's in prison?

What did the others do?

"Are you KIDDING ME?!" Lisitsa exploded, startling the teenagers so much that they both jumped. The elder Guardian fisted her hands in the top of her hair, ears going flat. "You don't have any idea, do you?!"

"H-hey!" Chat protested. "We only just figured out he's a black sorcerer. Cut us some slack!"

Her eyes flipped wide. "You…what?"

"Our kwami didn't even tell us that much. We had to figure it out on our own," Ladybug elaborated. "We don't know much about black sorcerers or what to do with—"

"You kill them! What else would you do?" she hissed through her teeth and stalked away from them.

"K-KILL?!" Ladybug squeaked.

Lisitsa spun around on her heel and stomped back. "Yes, kill! You can't take their powers, you can't imprison them, so you have to kill them! What were you expecting?"

They both stammered incoherently for a few moments while Lisitsa continued to pace. "Oh my God. What the hell is even going _**on**_ around here?! I can't believe the two of you are up against a man like this on your own. Where are the others? How am I the _only_ one who has come to call?"

Chat sputtered for a moment before finally finding his voice again. "You only came because of Volpina!"

"Yes. And I didn't know about about Papillon until I began my investigation! My current lifestyle does not allow me such luxuries as time to read global news. But there are a dozen others out there and at least half of them have to know about what's going on in this city! I do not understand how he's managed to chase you and your predecessors for nearly a hundred years and not alerted anyone else?!" Lisitsa clenched her fists angrily.

"Well, you didn't know until now, either." Ladybug pointed out.

"I was living off the grid until my sorcerer surfaced!" The woman shrieked. "I knew nothing of what was going on in the world outside my territory. Maybe some of the others were living similarly but not all of them! They couldn't have been!"

Lisitsa was seething. Her ears were flat against her head and anger rolled off her in waves. Neither teenager could understand why she was suddenly so worked up.

"Don't most Guardians handle things by themselves?" Chat asked. "That's what our kwami told us."

"They do," she agreed. "But you two can't even seem to fathom the idea of killing your arch enemy so clearly there's a problem! And besides, this is different. This is so, _so_ different. We have all failed you. Our negligence allowed him to murder your predecessors. Now a fresh pair of _children_ are fighting him!"

"Isn't this what we're supposed to be doing?" Ladybug stammered. "I—I mean, why is it such a big deal? They died fighting and we had to continue the fight. How's that any different from when other Guardians get killed?"

Lisitsa froze, facing away from them, and her back straightened. "You…don't…know…."

"Know what?"

She spun around and stared for a long moment, deliberating. No one moved. Then she frowned determinedly. "To hell with this. This is wrong. If they wanna come after me, let 'em, but this is bigger than just the two of you and your kwami need to get their heads out of their asses. Secrets or no secrets, you have the right to know."

"Know _what_?!" The young Guardians demanded together.

"Who you're fighting."

They stared at her.

"Did you never think it strange that your foe was a man called _Papillon_?" Lisitsa asked them. "The Beetle and the Cat versus the Butterfly. It's like something out of a children's tale. Or a fable. You picked your names because those are the animal forms your kwami chose to mimic." She glanced between them to see if they were following her. "I refuse to use the title for that man because even if he once was, no one that far gone can ever be considered one. But the man you know as Papillon is in possession of a Miraculous…and the kwami Nurru.

* * *

 **ಠ_ಠ gdi kwami**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	35. Trente Cinq

They three of them were seated on the edge of the rooftop. Ladybug was struggling to process what she'd been told and a hundred questions rattled around inside her mind. She felt strangely numb. Was she in shock? She was probably in shock. Seemed like a completely appropriate response, in her opinon.

Beside her, Chat was practically shaking. Without a word, she leaned her head against his shoulder and he immediately rested his head on top of hers.

"I don't know how or why but Papillon has a Miraculous."

Part of her wanted to deny it vehemently. Papillon? A Miraculous wielder? …A Guardian? Former Guardian? How could a Guardian do this? Why?

Yet at the same time…it made _sense_. His name. His knowledge of their powers and Miraculous. How he was able to replicate the Fox so accurately. Why he never confronted them himself. Except…where was his partner? Shouldn't she be here either at his side or at theirs to stop him?

It had to be true. Why would Lisitsa lie about something like this? It would make her no better than Papillon.

"I swear I know nothing about the circumstances. Firra wouldn't tell me or maybe she doesn't know. If you want answers, you're going to have to get them from your kwami."

"He wants us dead," Chat Noir murmured.

"What?" Lisitsa asked sharply.

"Papillon wants us dead. He killed our predecessors because he wanted their powers and he'll kill us, too, if he can." Ladybug shivered. Chat Noir put his arm around her. "If he's a Guardian…or…whatever, he's had his Miraculous longer than us. How do we stand a chance against him?"

"More importantly: where is his partner?" Ladybug wondered aloud.

"The kwami of chaos died over a hundred years ago," Lisitsa explained. "The kwami can feel when one of their own dies. He's flying solo, just like me. Though from the looks of things, he's not handling it well. I wonder why his kwami is letting him get away with this?"

Pain radiated from the place where Tikki's conscious was nestled in her mind and Ladybug flinched. She was not going to like the answer to that question, she just knew it.

The elder Guardian shook her head. "Regardless, this is not something the two of you can handle alone. Or even the three of us. This…we need everyone."

They both looked at her in surprise.

"E-Everyone?" Chat stammered. "What do you mean?"

"We need all the Guardians. Papillon is one of our own and he's gone rogue. He's already killed two Guardians and will not hesitate to kill more. His kwami is compromised, too. The potential ramifications of this are unprecedented. We need everyone's input. And everyone needs to account for their negligence," she added darkly.

"But…how?" Ladybug asked. "It can't be that easy to contact everyone else or our kwami would've already told us how. And has this ever even happened? I mean, all the Guardians together?"

"Not in my lifetime. Not that I've ever even heard of," she admitted. "But it _needs_ to happen. This has gone on for way too long and it's not right to leave this in your hands. Because the way things look to me, our best case scenario ends with a dead man and a traumatized kwami."

* * *

A year, that was all she asked of them. One year to deal with… _kill_ …the black sorcerer she'd been hunting and to track down the other Guardians. One more year on their own against Papillon. Only one more year and then they would have all the help in the world and they could defeat him.

( _Kill him_ , their minds whispered treacherously.)

* * *

Tikki settled down on the desk the moment she was free from her earrings and Marinette was at least grateful that the kwami was ready to face the music. She wanted to rant and yell and demand answers but all she did was stare at the tiny creature waiting patiently for her to begin. Tikki was so…tiny, adorable. Her eyes big and blue, her voice high and kind, her laughter so rich and bubbly. She seemed so innocent and young but it was a lie. She was impossibly old and impossibly powerful and it was all hidden beneath a deceptive exterior designed to make her seem trustworthy and companionable.

She wasn't evil. They had spent too long together for Marinette to believe such a thing but Tikki could never truly be good in her eyes ever again. She stood on the side of good but at best she was benevolent. She had an entirely different set of morals and though Marinette didn't agree with them, she respected their existence. Although some background on them would've been nice.

Tikki had a purpose. Tikki had methods to ensure this purpose was carried out. They weren't bad, they weren't intentionally harmful but there were just—just….

They just were.

She had to accept that. This was her life now. She had allowed herself to be lulled by Tikki's charms without a thought for her own future. Tikki insisted that she had never lied and Marinette knew it to be true. Tikki had many answers, she was simply waiting for the questions to be asked.

"I'm not going to ask if you knew," Marinette finally whispered. "Because we both know you did. So just tell me why."

"Of course."

* * *

Adrien looked at Plagg the way someone might look at a rotten piece of food. The kwami ignored him and collected a wheel of camembert from the mini fridge hidden in Adrien's closet then returned to the couch to eat it. He continued to ignore him until he had devoured the whole thing and deemed his paws clean and all the while, Adrien grew angrier. The urge to grab the kwami and shake him was quickly rising, to the point where he nearly had to sit on his hands.

"I figured I might as well eat now," Plagg finally told him. "Because you're probably not going to remember to feed me when we're done."

Adrien's nails scraped against the fine material of the couch and he gritted his teeth. "I _think_ you've kept me waiting long enough."

The kwami sighed. "Yeah. Probably."

* * *

"Your predecessor's name was Mariquita. She was from Spain. She was the younger one by a good number of years, cleverer than most people she met, and as radiant as the sunset."

* * *

"The Guardian before you went by Black Cat. He was English, older than his partner. A lot more selfish than you and a lot less in love with her. But she was all he had."

* * *

Their Miraculous tingled, the kwami's words stirring the echoes of the deceased Guardians within them for the hosts to feel. She heard rambunctious shouting, he heard singing. They both smiled… and before the sensations could fade away, their kwami flew up to their foreheads and the world disappeared around them.

* * *

 _Blonde hair with streaks of silver and a fair complexion. Deep amethyst eyes that crinkled when she smiled behind her mask. A suit of scales as black as night that flashed iridescent in the light, a skirt that swished around her knees, and bare palms. She danced through the mayhem and reveled in the discord with laughter like a dozen chimes._

" _Libelle..." a man's voice flittered through the air before being snatched away._

 _A man in a silver cowl that concealed most of his face. Silvery blue eyes lit up with fondness and a crooked smile. A shiny suit made from varying shades of purple and a black cloak that resembled wings hanging from his back. Sleek and dapper. He stood steadfast in the pandemonium and let it pass around him._

" _Papillon!" a woman's voice called before disappearing in the same way._

 _Running through a battle, dark magic swirling in the air, shadowy creatures swarming through a city, a trio of sorcerers shrieking with glee. Glimpsing flashes of an auburn Ladybug and a mousy-haired Chat Noir._

 _ **Mariquita. Black Cat.**_

 _Papillon going off on his own after one of the sorcerers and the shades he had conjured…_

 _Libelle dancing as she wrought chaos around her to combat against the lone sorceress and her pawns._

 _Flashes of Mariquita and Black Cat facing the third and final sorcerer…_

 _A woman's scream…Libelle looking at the oncoming spell in horror…a burst of dark magic…an explosion…the overwhelming feeling of_ _ **imbalance**_ _that followed._

 _Mariquita shrieking…_

 _Papillon's howl of rage…his bitter weeping over the spot where she had fallen… the mangled remnants of a black pendant cradled in his hands…._

 _The screams of the sorcerers as they fled…died…. Blood. Blood everywhere…_

* * *

Marinette jerked back into awareness with a gasp. Her cheeks where wet with tears and her entire body was shaking. Without a word, she collapsed onto her pillows and sobbed loudly into the fabric.

Adrenaline, the thrill of battle, glee…so much fear…and pain…and grief…. She'd felt Mariquita's emotions as if they'd been her own. That woman, Libelle, she had been obliterated. Alive one second, gone the next, taking her kwami with her, and Papillon he…

He….

Marinette raised her head. "What was that?" she wailed softly.

Tikki bowed her head. "That was the day it all started. Papillon and Libelle; Order and Chaos. They were facing off against two sorcerers, remnants of a mighty cult that took many Guardians many years to dismantle, and when they realized the odds were not necessarily in their favor, they called on us. It was pure chance that we were in the same country at the time but of course we went to help them. They are our twin pair. But we all underestimated the powers of those sorcerers and somehow they had managed to conceal the presence of a third until that very day. The woman."

Her eyes grew distant. "I sensed great power in her. Libelle should not have faced her alone as she did but she…. She was a bit arrogant and reckless. Papillon kept her in check. She marked that sorceress as the biggest threat and wanted to take her on herself. Mariquita and Black Cat did not have time to argue, nor time to help her, as you saw. The third sorcerer engaged us. She was very far away when…it happened. There was nothing we could have done to save her."

Marinette wiped her eyes. "And the explosion destroyed the Miraculous?"

Tikki nodded. "If it had been any less damaged there may have been a chance but not even the kwami of Life can bring one of us back once our conduit is gone."

* * *

"So then what happened?" Adrien asked. He had not cried but the vision left him shaken and curious.

Plagg sighed. "He went on a rampage. Killed them all. Didn't even let us help. Then he just left them in the streets. We didn't see him for a few days and when we did he was messed up. Looked like death. None of us had any idea how to help him, either, and I sensed something…off about him. Phillip's sense for destruction was more focused than yours and Papillon gave him bad vibes like—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Phillip?"

"Black Cat," Plagg corrected. "That was his name. He wanted to get away from Papillon. Mariquita thought they should stay and try to do something. He was the leader because he was older and usually she would defer to him but she was…very stubborn. But then Papillon simply vanished and they decided to move on."

"What was off about him?" Adrien asked.

The kwami sighed. "Curse."

* * *

"Nurru and his butterflies are resistant to change. It's in their nature, as Order, to prefer the status quo. Each time he lost a host, Nurru would rely on Kaoss—his partner, not the force—and her chameleons to help him through his grief. Adapt to the new order of things and the new host. Without her, Nurru cannot cope. Without Nurru, there was no one to help Papillon cope."

Tikki paused and Marinette was surprised to see tears shining in her eyes. "I wanted to find him. He's our brother, he needed us, but Papillon left. It was like he disappeared into the ether and not even Cat could track him down. We assumed he'd left the city whilst untransformed. There was nothing either of them could do and by the time we thought to call out to Nurru, he was out of range." She sighed again, shoulders, tail, and antenna all drooping. "Maybe if we had acted sooner…if we'd tried a little harder…we could've…. There was nothing we could've done for Libelle and Kaoss but maybe we could've saved Nurru and Papillon. We failed them all."

Without warning, the tears suddenly spilled from the kwami's eyes and she closed them, covering them with her fists. Marinette was angry, hurt, and confused but she was still a kind soul and the sight of her kwami crying tugged at her heart. She reached out and cupped Tikki in her hands, pulling her to her cheek, and nuzzled her.

"I'm sorry," Tikki whispered. "This is only the second time I've told someone about this. It's easier with Plagg."

"It's not easy at all, is it?" Marinette murmured.

Tikki shook her head. "Nurru and Kaoss were there from almost the time we were. We watched one die and the other—" she sniffled, wiping her eye "—hates us."

* * *

"He was weak," Plagg explained bitterly. "They both were. Curse feeds on negative emotions and intent and those two were a _mess._ Order was in chaos! That isn't _right."_ He frowned, frustrated and unable to adequately convey how fundamentally _wrong_ it was. "And there was so much Curse in the air. As near as we can tell, it latched onto their grief and anger. Killing those sorcerers would've only made it worse.

"If we'd figured it out in time, we could've saved them. That's what's so infuriating about this whole thing!" Plagg tugged on his antennae. "If Nurru had just reached out to us! But noo! The idiot had to go and get himself corrupted."

"Corrupted?" Adrien blurted out.

"Yeah. Curse got in their heads…in their souls…maybe even in the Miraculous. They've both gone mad. Tikki called Nurru a demon in a kwami's body and I'm inclined to agree. If you could see what he's become…."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us?" Marinette demanded. "We needed to know this!"

"Because you weren't ready. You're _still_ not ready," Tikki added with a trace of hostility. "There was so much more you needed to know. We've already been setting the stage for this for months. We were going to tell you later this year. The plan was to educate you both more on magic first, specifically Curse, how to tell a black sorcerer from a well-studied mage, corruption, and some of the more delayed effects of being a Miraculous wielder—aaagh!" Tikki let out a shrill shriek and flew out of Marinette's hands. "She messed it all up!"

Marinette was taken aback. Tikki was on an emotional roller coaster tonight, the likes of which she'd never seen, and she wasn't sure what to do.

"I hope Firra is giving her an earful. I respect her motives but she should not have told you!" Tikki declared. "It was our place!"

"Well, I'm glad she did," Marinette snapped. "Because a lot of stuff is starting to make sense. What else are you keeping from us?"

Tikki rose up to her eye-level and frowned at her, tail quivering. The kwami was quiet for a moment then she calmly said, "There's more to the story if you're ready for me to continue."

* * *

"We didn't see either of them for nearly ten years. There was nothing for us to do so the four of us decided to settle down for a while. That's what'll happen when you're done with Papillon, assuming you live," Plagg added, earning an annoyed look. "You'll pick a place and you'll live. Or maybe you'll travel. It's up to you. But anyway, Phillip and Ariadna wanted to put their feet up. We lived in Spain. Neither of them wanted to fight in the Great War and the few Guardians who had gotten involved seemed to have things in hand so we let them be. The war ended…and then he found us. Apparently he'd been looking for quite some time."

"Why?" Adrien asked, feeling something heavy settle in his gut. His ring tingled again, the echo of Phillip stirring at such a crucial question.

The little kwami huffed, folding his arms. "Papillon had decided that it was their fault Libelle died. He wanted revenge."

* * *

"We tried to reach out to Nurru but he would not respond," Tikki explained. "So many times we called to him but he never once responded. We wondered what Papillon had done to him. Now we know that he shared Papillon's sentiments."

Marinette's breathing hitched.

"At first Papillon came at them head on. In hindsight, Mariquita…Ariadna—" the name caused another tingling to emanate from Marinette's earrings. This time she felt something heavy and bitter before the sensation faded "—was always the primary target. Papillon thought it would be more fair that way. Then they would know exactly how he felt." Tikki's face scrunched up like she'd tasted something sour. "The fighting was devastating for the village, so we fled. It was our turn to disappear. The war was over and it was safe to travel Europe. We went to Germany because it was battered and no one in their right mind was going there."

"But he found you again?" Marinette guessed.

Tikki nodded. "It took seven years but yes. They fought, we ran, and he gave chase. We tried the Americas. A black sorcerer started stirring up trouble in New York City and we were the only ones close enough so we had to respond. That was six years after the last meeting and we figured it would only be a matter of time. And sure enough, he came.

"We hid for a short while and then the world became focused on the second Great War. We went back to New York to finish the job. We were able to get in and out without him finding us. We were safe until after the War, then he found us in Canada. Again and again. We'd fight, we'd run, he'd chase. And endless cycle that kept coming faster and faster as technology evolved. We eventually stopped telling them about places they were needed to fight because it didn't matter anymore. Our lives had become about self-preservation. We ran and ran. Every time there was so much of a whisper or a glimpse of us, he appeared."

* * *

"The last time he came at us head on, Phillip nearly succeeded in taking his Miraculous from him." Plagg grinned, puffing up his chest with pride. "It failed, obviously, but it scared the hell out of him. Enough that he was no longer willing to risk himself. That was in…1972, I think."

Adrien blinked in surprise. 1972? If Libelle had died a hundred and eight years ago then… He held up his fingers as he counted.

Plagg, oblivious to his host's train of thought, went on, "The next time he found us was when the akumas began. Took him a while to get to what he's using today. Making people into monsters is apparently an art. Who knew?"

"How old were Black Cat and Mariquita when Libelle died?" Adrien asked suddenly.

His kwami went as still as a statue.

* * *

"How long did he chase them?" Marinette murmured. _When did they die?_

Tikki took a deep breath. "About ninety-eight years."

Marinette pursed her lips and looked up through her skylight. She didn't like this. It didn't add up. "Black Cat didn't look younger than twenty."

"Twenty-two, approximately."

"So you're telling me that they were still fighting Papillon when he was a hundred and twenty years old?" She was calm. Why was she so calm? This was…potentially very big. Huge. She should be freaking out. Screaming. Why wasn't she?

It wasn't because she already knew the answer. It couldn't be. That was impossible…there was no way…

"Actually, he was three hundred and fifty-two when he died," Tikki corrected. "Ariadna was one hundred and ninety-one."

Marinette swallowed, fingers fisting in her bedspread. "How?" she asked without looking down at her kwami.

"Guardians are granted longevity by their Miraculous. It is…one of the most potent effects."

"For how long?"

* * *

Kwami always tried to save this secret for last. Ideally they would wait until the initial evil had been defeated and the fledgling had been given time to settle into their role before telling them.

It didn't always work out that way. Sometimes the elder partner was just too old, sometimes they couldn't keep the secret until the kwami deemed the younger was ready. Sometimes circumstances forced them to reveal the truth early like as was the case this time.

Truly, it was out of kindness that they kept it from them because the truth was a heavy burden to bear. Too heavy for most on top of everything else while they were still so young.

It was their greatest secret, known only to the kwami and Guardians.

Kwami were immortal beings of immense power, power which flowed through the bodies of their hosts, more and more with every transformation until it became as integral a part of them as their own blood. It changed them in supernatural ways that no human could ever hope to achieve on their own. Even knowing this, no Guardian ever saw it coming.

For who would expect immortality to come in the form of a piece of jewelry?

* * *

 **Who indeed?**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	36. Trente Six

He did not know how he made it through the night or the morning. He didn't sleep, speak to Plagg, and at breakfast he could barely eat a single apple. No one noticed. For once, he was thankful.

He was saved by single text with a simple request.

He hadn't wanted to transform but he couldn't bear facing this new revelation alone any longer and…he had _felt_ her calling to him. It wasn't just a text and it wasn't like the fear beacon, either. Just a feeling that his Lady wanted him there more than anything else. He couldn't explain it nor could he resist. In truth, he hadn't even tried. He needed her and she needed him and there was no one else for either of them.

Not for this.

Soon, not for anything.

He landed on the rooftop were they usually met, shoulders heavy with the weight of what he now knew. She turned around and her face was full of pain.

She exhaled his name shakily and they stumbled towards each other. He saw the tears in her eyes before he caught her in his arms and she buried her face in his chest. He held her tightly as she broke down his arms, sobbing, shaking, shuddering, and the force of her grief would've enough to move him to tears even if he hadn't already nearly been there.

He thought of his father, his friends. All the people who he cared for in his life. He was going to outlive all of them. In a hundred years' time, every single person he knew would be dead and gone and he would still be here. Everyone he loved, everyone he cared for was going to leave him or he was going to leave them. Either way, he would be alone.

Except for the girl in his arms—his partner, his lady, his love—who was crying for all the people she, too, would lose. And he hated the thought that she wouldn't be enough, or that he wouldn't, but how could they hope to fill the voids that would be left behind in each other's hearts on their own?

A shudder rolled through him and he pressed his face into her hair just as the first sob escaped his lips. He slowly sank down onto the roof and she followed limply. Neither of them said a word for a long time after that. They simply clung to each other and cried.

* * *

"We don't have to do this," he murmured. The first words spoken by either of them in at least half an hour. "We could quit."

They'd chosen this roof for its convenience but also for its privacy. Between the angles of the rooves, heights of the surrounding buildings, and the maze of chimneys, parapets, and other protrusions, the only way to see them up here from a helicopter. So unless the police or a news station decided this area of the city was suddenly fascinating, there would be no one to witness them breaking down.

Ladybug raised her head from his shoulder and he tightened his arm around her waist reflexively. "Quit?"

Chat Noir nodded. "Give it up, take off our Miraculous. Just say 'fuck it.'"

She stared at him for a few seconds. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. If you take yours off, I will too. …Though I hope you'll at least give me your real phone number or something. I don't want to lose you."

She laughed quietly and rested her against his shoulder again. "You're not going to lose me, kitty. No matter what happens. I promise. But…"

"We could be friends, too," he went on. "For real. Not just like this. Think about it. And we wouldn't have to worry about being used against each other."

"But what good would it do?"

"If we take them off and stop transforming, the magic will fade. I bet that means we'd go back to normal."

"No, I knew that, but what good would it do? Do you really think the attacks would stop? Who would stop the akumas? What would stop him from stealing the Miraculous when our backs were turned? Or just right out from under us since we wouldn't be able to defend them?"

"…We could always give them to him."

Ladybug's head jerked up sharply. "You don't mean that."

He looked down at her for a moment and then away. "You're right. I don't. I'm sorry. I don't. …He'll still kill us. I don't even think he wants our Miraculous. More like he wants us to be away from them so we can't save ourselves."

"And I couldn't do that to Tikki. Could you really do it to Plagg?"

"I want to say yes but…I…can't. Why can't I, Ladybug?" Chat's voice broke on her name. His eyes grew watery again and she began running her hand up and down his back again. "He never lied, he never tricked me, but he did deceive me and he's taken so much from me and he isn't even sorry."

"Because you're a good person, Chat Noir," she told him honestly. "One of the best."

"I didn't sign up for this."

"Neither did I."

"I don't _want_ this."

"I know," she murmured. "But we—we have to keep going. If we quit now, then it was all for nothing. Everything we've done, what Phillip and Ariadne did. I couldn't live with myself even if we _somehow_ managed to not get killed by him. …I don't want to lose you, either. Especially not like that."

They were both quiet for a long time after. She was right and he knew she was right and there was nothing for either of them to say. This was their life. They would have to accept it.

"What about after?" he whispered. "When this is all over, if I gave it up, would you do the same?"

She considered him. "Maybe. But…would you really?"

"Maybe."

* * *

The concept of immortality was very…abstract. Living forever? That was impossible. She believed her kwami was telling her the truth but at the same time, Marinette just couldn't accept that she was immortal. Or as close as possible. She couldn't die but she could, obviously, be killed. It just didn't…make sense in her brain.

How could she live forever? How could her body handle that? Her mind? Would she remember everything? Would memories fade? Would she wake up one day and not remember her mother's face?

Marinette stared at her parents and tried to imagine being their age. She'd thought about it before as a kid: what would it be like to be a grownup like _Maman_ and Papa? It always involved being taller, smarter, and prettier. But now…. Now it involved a magical suit, the heat of battle, and a blonde boy in black. She tried to imagine what it would be like to be twice their age…three times their age…and couldn't.

Children were supposed to outlive their parents. No one usually came out and said it but she'd heard commentary on how it was 'unnatural' for parents to bury their children. Parents bring the children into the world and raise them; children care for adults in their old age and then return them to the earth. That was the cycle most everyone seemed to accept. Well…Marinette was certainly breaking the cycle. She might even live long enough to see their names worn away from their tombstones.

Her gut clenched at the thought and she shook her head to dispel the image.

 _I can't have kids…so who's going to bury me?_

She shook her head again. _Stop it._

* * *

Tikki began explaining things more in-depth over the next few days; not just their immortality but magic as well. The things they would've known before finding out about Papillon if things had gone according to plan. The kwami assured her that Chat Noir was getting a similar education.

"The only way for a Guardian to die is if they're killed, either by someone else or by their own hand. It's very difficult to do, though, since your suits are nigh impenetrable, you have a high healing rate, and you're immune to all forms of infection and illness. So you're probably going to live a very long time," Tikki explained. "The oldest Guardians are the Turtle and the Bear, Life and Death, and they're first generation. …First or second," she corrected with a frown. "I can't remember. It's been a very long time since I've seen them." She continued to frown for a moment, troubled by her own faulty memory, then gave her head a little shake. "Anyway, those two are thousands of years old."

"And they haven't died?" Marinette asked in surprise. "In all that time?"

"Well, maybe, but as long as the Turtle is alive, he can heal himself, his partner, and if necessary, revive her. But remember, those two don't share the duty the rest of you bear."

"Then…what do they do?"

"A conversation for another day," Tikki told her kindly but firmly. "Right now, we're focusing on you two. But I want you to understand that I still cannot tell you everything. Some things you simply have to wait for."

Marinette frowned and looked away. "I think immortality is something you should mention up front."

"We used to," she confessed. "We used to tell our prospective hosts many things up front. It was too much at once and it frightened them. It might seem mean to you but remember: we _must_ have Guardians to protect us. Knowing what you do now, can you blame Plagg and I for wanting new hosts as quickly as possible?"

"You knew Papillon was on your tail and you didn't tell us until it was too late."

"No, actually. We didn't tell you because we hoped that he would not pursue us any longer. His grievances were with Phillip and Ariadne and we hoped that their deaths would appease him." Tikki sighed. "We hadn't counted on Nurru being as furious with us as Papillon was with them."

Marinette sighed. Well, they had told them a long time ago that they'd inherited their predecessors' burdens. At least they'd been up front on that end. She spun around in her desk chair and looked out the window. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled loudly through her mouth. "Okay, I have a question: how did Ariadne die?"

"She was killed in battle," Tikki stated.

"By an akuma?"

"By Papillon. …We hadn't seen him in person in years. His appearance surprised them both and he struck when she was down. He would've taken the earrings if Black Cat hadn't been there."

"And…Black Cat? What happened to him?"

Tikki said nothing. Marinette looked at her kwami sitting on the desk with her paws in her lap. "He was tired," she murmured and Marinette had a pretty good idea what he'd done.

 _Was she scared?_ Marinette wondered. _Did he feel her fear right before she…?_ Her eyes widened. He would've felt Mariquita die. The poor man.

"What happens to us when we die?" she found herself asking.

Tikki smiled. "A conversation for another day."

"I don't mean where our souls go or anything like that. I mean…our bodies." She made a face. "I was thinking earlier…. I'll be alive to bury my parents but since I can't have kids, who's going to bury me? Who buried Ariadne and Phillip?"

"I… Are you sure you really want to know?"

Marinette nodded.

"No one," Tikki admitted and sighed. "Guardians aren't buried."

"So…what then?"

She nodded. "There's magic and power left in your bodies after you die. Fire is the only way to ensure your bodies aren't desecrated. Normally the surviving partner performs the sendoff but… Plagg and I did it ourselves this time."

"So if Chat Noir dies first then I will have to…"

Tikki did not reply.

* * *

Sleep didn't come easy for the next few nights. Adrien spent hours each night lying in bed, staring at his surroundings until exhaustion dragged him under. Sometimes he thought about Ladybug. Sometimes he thought of his parents. Sometimes he wondered what would happen to all the things in this room. All this… _stuff_ he'd just taken for granted because he didn't know any better. Like the people in his life. What would become of them when he was gone?

* * *

When Marinette couldn't sleep, she would go out onto her terrace and stare at the few stars she could see overhead. She wondered what the sky would look like in three hundred years' time. Would it be different or would it remain as unchanged as herself?

* * *

The realization came to her in the middle of the third afternoon while she prepared to hang up her clothes. She was walking towards her chaise where the laundry waited with a handful of hangers when it hit her. Her grip went slack and the hangers slipped from her hands, clattering to the floor in a mess of metal and plastic that alerted her kwami.

Tikki floated up from her dresser and stared at her host frozen in the center of her room. "Are you okay?"

The blood drained from her face and, slowly, she turned around. "Tikki…" she croaked, cleared her throat, then tried again. "Tikki, I'm not going to die of old age, right?"

The kwami shook her head. "No. It's not possible."

"Because I'm not going to get old, right?"

It made _sense._ Back during "Guardian 101", they had been told two very important facts. One: Kwami always needed Guardians to protect them. Two: A Miraculous could only be bound to one person at a time. She wondered why it had never occurred to her until now that this was not feasible under normal human conditions. Once humans reached a certain age they would become hard-pressed to do basic physical activities that they had been able to do without a thought during their youth. How could someone in their seventies or eighties with a weary body be expected to fight for their life? They couldn't.

Tikki sighed.

"I'm right, I know I am," Marinette insisted.

"No, no, you are," Tikki agreed, "but I thought you already knew."

Marinette suddenly found it difficult to swallow. Combing her fingers through her hair, she shook her head slowly. This was too much.

"Chat…does Chat Noir know?"

"It's likely he does. If not, you can tell him if you wish."

That brought Marinette up short. "I…can?" When she had learned of her infertility, she had been forbidden from telling him because it wasn't her place. Lisitsa shouldn't have told them about Papillon because it wasn't her place. The secrets were for the kwami to tell, that had been the pattern up until this point. So why was she being given this chance?

"That's what usually happens," Tikki admitted. "You don't want to keep it from him, either. I know you don't. So you might as well."

Marinette retrieved the phone from beneath her mattress to get his attention. She left for their meeting an hour later.

* * *

Chat Noir already knew and, like Tikki, assumed that she'd been aware as well. Ladybug flushed as red as her suit and mentally kicked herself again for missing the obvious. She was supposed to be the analytical one. A warrior meant to live forever would need to be able to stay young enough to fight forever.

His voice was very matter-of-fact as he told her that this would present a problem. Upon noticing her curious expression, he explained that his civilian identity was a bit of a public figure. She was surprised. Did that mean she'd seen him before as a civilian without realizing? But then she realized what this meant. As a public figure, he would be under scrutiny more than she was, and once he stopped aging, it would only be a matter of time before someone noticed. Not only that, it would be harder for him to disappear.

Ladybug was no fool. She knew what this would mean for them. They would only have a few years once they stopped aging before people would get suspicious. Eventually they were going to have to leave.

* * *

"I guess this means Lisitsa really was Volpina after all."

"…I guess she was."

* * *

That evening was the first time she had laid eyes on either of her parents since she'd put two and two together. Marinette felt as if she were sitting behind a wall of glass, separate from the world around her. Outside, nothing had changed. Inside, she was screaming.

Sabine made dinner and Tom popped up to give Marinette a kiss before returning to the bakery to finish closing up. He greeted his wife as well and said something that made Sabine giggle. For them, it was just another evening like the countless others that had come before and would (in their minds) undoubtedly come after. But Marinette knew that their days together were numbered now. They always had been but…Tom and Sabine were still young, Marinette should've still had _decades_ with them and they with her.

Now they had ten years. Maybe twelve if they were lucky. Sometime in the next eight years, Marinette would come into her prime and that was where she would remain. Forever.

She looked at the wrinkles on her parents faces. She'd never have those. She averted her eyes and instead her gaze fell on a photo of their family sitting on the bookshelf across the room. She would never have that. Even if she were to marry, she could never have a child of her own. Soon she wouldn't even have a _family._

She would be able to avoid suspicion for a little while, she'd have a little longer if she used makeup, but eventually there would be no hiding her youth anymore. While her friends would progress merrily along the road of maturity, she would remain a young adult for the rest of her life. She would have to leave them all. Her parents would grow old wondering where their daughter was and what they'd done to make her sever contact and one day they would _die_ and she—

Marinette quickly excused herself from the table and ran up to her room where she barricaded the door and let out the scream that had been building for hours into her pillow. Muffled screams quickly gave way to sobbing and it was all she could do from then on to keep quiet. She couldn't have her parents coming to check on her now, they would only make it worse.

She thought of her family, of her friends…of Adrien.

Adrien.

All of the resolve she had built up abruptly crumbled like it had never been there. It didn't matter anymore. None of it. Not her feelings for him, not the warm smiles he gave her, the hours they'd spent together, or the way he spoke so kindly. Not the future she'd hoped they could have. Everything they could have been was falling away from the simple the fact that he would age, he would grow old, he would die and she would not. She could not ask that of him. She did not want to spend her life with him only to have him snatched away by time.

Most importantly, she could not drag him into this. She knew that now more than ever. She could never allow him to enter this dark part of the world where magic was real and monsters lurked and tiny gods forced immortality onto unsuspecting children. He was too good for this. He deserved better.

She couldn't do this. Somehow…she would have to let him go.

* * *

 **Poor baby girl.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	37. Trente Sept

Spending time with his friends was suddenly the most important thing to Adrien. Screw modelling, screw fencing, and screw summer tutoring. What did it matter if he kept up on his schooling? He was going to outlive the current education system and everything they were teaching him was going to be out of date before he reached the middle of his life. Well, probably. Besides, he had years and years ahead of him to learn things. He'd watch history unfold before his eyes and retell it to people decades from now.

But Nino, Marinette, Alya, and Chloe…

Their whole lives stretched before them but the time had never seemed shorter to Adrien than it did now. Eighty years and then they would be gone. Even less for his father; he had maybe fifty. And that was just their _lifespans_. When he thought about how soon he would stop aging in comparison, he would feel a flash of panic so poignant he was surprised it didn't reach his Lady. They had eighty years of life and he could only stay around for a fraction of that. Ten more years, maybe. That was more than half his life but suddenly it didn't feel like long at all.

If he wasn't getting lectured by Plagg, fighting an akuma, patrolling with Ladybug, or stuck in front of a camera, Adrien was with at least one of his friends.

Time with Chloe was best spent without the others around and she was always busy during the summer so he didn't see her often. When he did, they would watch movies, go shopping, and one time she insisted they go to Lyon for the day. It reminded him of when they were younger and she was his only friend in a world of adults and walls. She'd been kinder back then. He saw hints of her younger self when it was just them and he wondered what kind of woman she would become.

With Nino, Alya, and Marinette, it was a matter of who was free and who was feeling sociable. Sometimes the four of them hung out together. They'd go to the cinema, play video games (though rarely at his house), hang out in parks, visit tourist traps, go tourist watching. Sometimes they'd go to Alya's favorite spots for 'Ladybug and Chat Noir watching' and that was how Adrien learned that Alya had somehow figured out the places their different patrol routes intersected. He'd have to try and do something about that.

Sometimes it was just him and Nino. They'd talk, play basketball, video games, occasionally he'd listen while Nino practiced DJ-ing. He was getting really good. He could even make a career out of it. His father would scoff at the idea and some part of Adrien, the part that was formed from the ideas his parents had raised him with, questioned the sensibility of such a path. But he was going to spend the rest of his life as a superhero so who was he to judge? If it made Nino happy, Adrien would support him every step of the way.

Adrien often found himself drawn to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He missed being able to spend hours there with his friend and her family. Gone were the days when she would shyly greet him and stutter over her words. Now Marinette would always greet him with a smile as radiant as the sun and it made him feel _wanted_. He didn't have the words to tell her what it meant to him. The only other person who looked at him like that was Ladybug.

Her parents were thrilled when he turned up at their door looking to spend his hours in their kitchen or with their daughter. Marinette would always drop everything if she was around to come down. Sometimes they'd go up to the living room or her bedroom to play video games. One time she'd come home to find him in the kitchen learning how to make macaroons from her father. She'd immediately donned an apron, washed her hands, and joined them.

There was something different about her though. An air of melancholy around her that he couldn't explain and would always disappear whenever he asked if she was okay, only to return not long after. Sometimes, in the moments when she thought he couldn't see, there was a sadness in her eyes so profound that all he wanted to do was pull her close, hug her tight, and protect her from the world.

* * *

Marinette knew her friends were worried and she didn't blame them. All things considering, she thought she was handling finding out she was immortal rather well. Sure she was having a bit of an existential crisis but at least she wasn't doing anything crazy like jumping off the Eiffel Tower just to see what would happen. (Chat Noir's idea—he hadn't gone through with it.) There was nothing she could do to ease their concerns, though, not without lying through her teeth to the point where she probably wouldn't be believed or spilling Guardian secrets.

She told them she was fine. None of them believed her.

"Is it Adrien?" Alya asked one afternoon while they were in her room.

"Is what Adrien?" Marinette replied.

"Why you're so…" Alya frowned and gestured at her.

She realized that she was staring out the window like some sort of brooding anime protagonist and conceded that Alya might have a point. With a sigh, Marinette turned away from the window. "I'm fine and even if I wasn't, it wouldn't have anything to do with Adrien."

"Uh huh."

"Alya, we're just _friends_. Nothing has happened between us."

"Maybe that's the problem."

Marinette nearly winced. Yes, it was the problem, because nothing _could_ ever happen between them, no matter how much she wanted it. She had to let him go. He deserved better than her. He deserved a _life_ , a proper one, with someone who he loved as much as they loved him, who could give him a family if they wanted to, who he could grow old with. All she could offer him was a life of battles, magic, and fear. He deserved an equal.

She knew this. God, she told herself every single day, but it was hard with him always there. It was even harder when it was just them at her house. He'd been coming around to spend time with her a lot lately and she was greedily taking advantage of his presence while still could. Unfortunately, none of this was helping her let him go.

No, the problem wasn't that nothing had happened between them. The problem was that he was _there_ and she needed him to _not_ be.

"—inette? Marinette? Marinette, hello?!"

She jolted back into the present and shook her head. "Sorry!"

Concerned, Alya stood up and walked over to Marinette, placing her hands on her shoulders. "I'm worried about you."

Marinette sighed. "There's no point in asking you to not be?"

"No."

"Then I'm asking you to trust me when I say that I can handle it."

"So there _is_ something." Her suspicions confirmed, Alya's eyes narrowed and she scrutinized her face closely. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

 _Because it's none of your business._ "I just… I need to deal with it on my own, okay? I don't want to talk about it and it's not something you can help me with."

"You shouldn't bottle things up," Alya warned. "It's not good for you."

"I know."

"Have you thought about writing it out? Like a diary? You keep one, don't you?"

Marinette shrugged. "I used to."

She hadn't bothered keeping a diary in years. With so much of her life steeped in secrets no one else could know, writing out her life no longer seemed safe and what was the point of keeping a diary if you lied? She didn't even have the journals containing information about Ladybug anymore. She'd cut the pages into tiny pieces and slowly disposed of them in the bakery ovens over time to eliminate the risk of them ever being read.

"Maybe you should start again," Alya suggested. "It's an outlet, even if you're not actually talking to anyone." She lowered her hands. "Promise me you'll at least try?"

Marinette nodded.

* * *

 _My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. When I was fourteen years old, I became a Guardian. That means I traded my soul to the god of Creation for power. I didn't understand what I was doing and I didn't take the time to really think about it either. I regret that._

 _I enjoy being Ladybug. I've done great things, met many people, saved many people. I've found someone who I will spend the rest of my life with, no matter what. He loves me, apparently, and it scares me. I know I could love him if I didn't already have feelings for someone else._

 _His name is Adrien Agreste. I've known him for nearly three years and I'm pretty sure I love him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him as his wife, but I'm going to outlive him. Probably by centuries. I wanted to have children with him but I can't. I want to tell him who I am. I want him to be proud of me. But I can't tell him. He can never know who I am and I have to let him go. I want to be with him but I can't. It's not fair. It wouldn't be fair._

 _Nothing is fair._

 _I hate being Ladybug. I am always fighting for my life and the lives in this city. A madman wants me dead for something that happened nearly a hundred years before I was even born. I don't even know his real name. He was once like me. He sold his soul to the god of Order. It's ironic that now all he brings is chaos. I hate being Ladybug because I know I can never not be. I'm probably going to die as Ladybug, too._

 _I might go back on my word. I might give up my powers and my responsibilities to be human. I don't know. But I do know that if I had known then what I do now, I don't think I would have made the deal. I would have told her no._

Marinette set down the pen and stared at the words written on the paper in front of her. Words she could never say out loud written out in ink. Damning words. Words no one else could ever read. Thoughts no one else could ever know. Alya was right. She had to get them out…just once.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she picked up the lighter she'd brought up from downstairs and flicked it on. She held the corner of the paper to the flame and watched as fire destroyed the evidence.

She didn't know if Tikki saw. She didn't care.

* * *

It was the hardest thing she ever had to do but she needed to distance herself from him if she ever wanted to get over him. She just hoped he wouldn't hate her.

Adrien could not understand what he'd done wrong and neither Alya nor Nino had any insight, but for some reason, Marinette seemed to be determined to avoid him. She stopped responding to his texts, she no longer attended their group meetups, and when he'd tried to visit her, Sabine had apologetically turned him away at the door.

Had he offended her? Did she hate him? This wasn't like her and her subtle rejection of him hurt more than he'd ever expected.

* * *

Ladybug resented him.

She wasn't quite sure when she started to. She knew she didn't want to resent him because it wasn't his fault any more than it was hers. But… she couldn't help it because he was _there_ and he was _smiling_ at her like he always did. Like she was the moon above and she was the reason he could see as he navigated Paris at night. She knew that Chat loved her. Knowing that he would get to spend an eternity with her now must have seemed like a dream come true to him. Sooner or later, it would be just the two of them in a world of people they had no ties to. It would make sense to be with him then. She knew it, she saw the logic in it, and suspected he did, too.

But she didn't _want to._

It wasn't that she didn't love him or couldn't love him that way…but she didn't want to because now it felt like it was expected of her. She did not want to love someone just because their kwami had decided they would make a good match. She wanted to choose who she loved—well, as much as anyone could choose such things. Her heart had chosen Adrien and it did not want to let go, no matter what her head insisted.

Chat Noir's flirting, which had been annoying at worst and flattering at best, suddenly grated on her nerves. His gentle touches made her skin sting and his smiles made her want to scream. He saw through her and she knew it hurt him but she couldn't help herself. This wasn't what she wanted.

She wanted normalcy. Though she had resolved to let him go, she wanted Adrien.

She had had every other choice taken from her. Why couldn't she just have this ONE THING?

* * *

Black cats must truly be unlucky because somehow, in the span of a few short weeks, he, _le chat noir de Paris,_ had somehow managed to upset two of the most important girls in his life. One had cut off all contact and the other was pulling away from him and rejecting their closeness with biting words and bitter looks.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out what he'd done or how to fix it and, worst of all, neither of them were giving him a chance.

* * *

Late at night, Tikki watched Marinette from the pillow where she had snuggled up. The girl was sitting against the wall, slowly scrolling through her phone with the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Slowly, Tikki rose into the air and floated closer to her Chosen so she could see the screen. She was looking through her phone gallery at pictures of her friends.

Tikki let out a quiet sigh. She knew, though Marinette did not, that one day the people in these pictures would be naught but distant memories. People she would recall when she thought of her childhood and early days as a Guardian with perhaps echoes of attachment and emotion included. If she missed them, it would be nostalgia and nothing more. But now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Marinette had decades before she would reach that place.

Marinette lingered on a photo of her and Adrien, both of them smiling widely and red-faced from the wind. She smiled sadly, lip quivering, and brushed her thumb across his face. Her mouth parted for a shaky exhale and she inhaled quickly. "It's not fair," she whispered. "I love him, Tikki."

Never let it be said that Tikki did not care for Marinette. She cared for all her Chosen, perhaps more than she should considering how fleeting their lives were compared to hers. Sometimes they didn't think she cared, sometimes they all but hated her, but she never faltered. She never wanted anything other than what was best for them and she felt she owed it to them to try her hardest to ensure their happiness.

In instances where there Tikki knew her Chosen would learn better without her influence, she held her tongue and let events unfold. With matters of the heart she would soothe, discourage, or encourage as she saw fit. It was always best for Guardians to come to their own decisions for these things. Even knowing Marinette would outlive him, Tikki had always encouraged Marinette to pursue Adrien because if he was who Marinette's heart wanted then who was she to interfere? She had always known there would come a time when Marinette would either decide to pursue him for real—as a potential mate—or let him go.

Marinette had chosen the latter though she was struggling to follow through. Nothing unexpected. Tikki had never seen that kind of devotion fade overnight. She had hoped that perhaps Marinette would finally turn her attention to Chat Noir and his affections but it seemed the opposite was occurring. She was pulling back, distancing herself from him. She wasn't just refusing his advances but she was refusing _him_ and Tikki could feelthe imbalance forming.

No doubt Plagg could as well and was concerned. He had not attempted to contact her about it just yet which could only mean he was trusting her to sort things out on her own. She wasn't sure how long he'd give her though and the last thing she needed was him doing something rash.

"Marinette…there is nothing stopping you from loving him," Tikki began softly. "It won't be easy but it is possible for you two to spend his lifetime together."

"I couldn't do that to him. He deserves someone equal to him…someone who can settle down, give him a family, _be there_ for him. And I can't do those things now."

Tikki floated between Marinette and her phone. Her chosen frowned but lowered her phone to her lap obediently. "You're not the first to come to that conclusion, not by any stretch. If that is your resolve, then so be it. It won't be easy but you just have to remember everything you just told me."

Marinette sniffed and nodded. "It's not fair," she repeated. "He's the one I want. Not—not…"

"Not Chat Noir?" Tikki guessed shrewdly and Marinette closed her eyes. "Marinette, you…"

"What am I supposed to do, Tikki? Nothing about this is fair. How am I supposed to spend the rest of my life with him knowing he loves me?"

"Marinette, you're still young. Your infatuation Adrien can and will fade if you allow it. Just as you can love Chat if you allow it. I'm certain."

She opened her eyes and her brow furrowed. "What? How can you be certain?"

"Because you were chosen for each other—" Tikki started to explain and Marinette scoffed, shaking her head.

"I knew it. I knew it would be something like that." The young Guardian looked away furiously. "I'm not going to love him just because _you_ decided I should." Her lip quivered and Tikki realized she was trying not to cry.

"But I didn't!"

"Y-you've taken the possibility of children, a life with my family, and practically my humanity—why can't I just have this _one thing_?!"

"But you can!" Tikki protested, flying around into her line of sight. "Marinette, please, you have it all wrong."

"Do I?" she seethed.

" _Yes_ ," she insisted. "All wrong. Oh my sweets…" She knew Marinette had been holding something in but this—this was not what she'd expected. The poor girl. "Marinette, think for a moment. If I had really chosen, or intended for you to be with Chat Noir…why would I encourage you to pursue Adrien?"

"Why did you?" Marinette demanded. "You _knew_ what would happen to me."

"Yes, I did, but your heart wanted him. We kwami have always believed that you have the right to love who you want. I have never interfered or done anything but support my Chosen when they pursue someone, except for times when I sensed genuine danger in it. There was nothing with him so I encouraged you. Yes, I knew the day would come when you would have to make the decision to pursue or forget him but until then, there was no reason to spoil your first love. I do believe it is wise to move on from Adrien but even if you change your mind, I will support you."

Marinette pursed her lips and looked down at her lap. "Then…why did you say we were chosen for each other? Chat and I."

Here it was: the moment Tikki had been waiting for. The kwami lowered herself to sit on Marinette's knee. "Because you were. All Guardians are. Will you let me explain?"

She nodded.

"All kwami have the ability to see the souls of people. Individually or all at once, it all depends. Your soul says so much about you. Your personality, your nature, your faith, your dominant emotion. Everything we need to know about a person can be garnered through their soul. Yours is beautiful." Tikki informed her and was pleased to see Marinette smile in return, however slightly. "There are many qualities we look for in our Guardians. Most importantly, you have to have the potential to wield magic, because not everyone does, as well as an affinity for the specific force the Miraculous represents. You also have to meet certain criteria, such as being young enough for our powers to develop with your body, old enough to handle the challenges that will be presented to you, among other things. When I began my search here in Paris, there were approximately ten thousand potential candidates."

"Ten thousand?" Marinette whispered.

Tikki nodded. "You included."

"B-but there must have been hundreds of girls who would've been better than me! More athletic, less clumsy, smarter—"

"Perhaps," Tikki allowed. "I wouldn't know. Physical forms don't really matter to us. Truly, we only look near the end, and only to ensure the candidate has no physical disability that would prevent them from being a Guardian. I did not see your physical form until, perhaps, a day before we met. By then my decision was already made.

"It's very rare that Plagg and I get to select together. You and Chat were our first new pair in over a thousand years. Normally, we have to select a child who will be compatible with the elder Guardian. It's simpler but the bond is never quite as strong as what it could be. But this time we started fresh and we were careful. So, so careful. Thousands of those girls were eliminated because there was no strong soul match for them among Plagg's candidates. We wanted the bond between our Guardians to be strong, we wanted to give you a chance to live happy lives together. So, from there, it was a matter of determining which souls were the most compatible."

Marinette seemed to be in awe, her eyes wide and lips slightly parted as she listened. Tikki smiled. "You and the boy Plagg chose had the strongest bond out of anyone. You were chosen because of him just as much as he was chosen because of you."

"Are you saying that we…?"

"I believe the term in your language is _âmes sœurs_. But yes, I am. Or as near as possible."

Marinette covered her mouth with her hand and whispered, "Oh my God."

"Can you really blame him for loving you?"

"Oh my God."

Tikki decided to give her a chance to process this new revelation. Tears welled in Marinette's eyes but Tikki did not move to wipe them like she normally would. Marinette closed her eyes, hugging her chest with her free arm, and let out a shuddering exhale. The kwami rubbed her hand across her knee soothingly.

"You don't have to be afraid and you don't have to love him, but if you do someday then it will be because you chose to. You two are meant to be together, as lovers, friends, partners, whatever you wish. Plagg and I didn't decide anything for you, all we did was introduce two people were destined to meet."

* * *

Marinette wasn't sure what to do with this new information. Did it change anything? The connection between them had always been there but should her awareness of it affect her? Should she tell him herself or let his kwami get around to it?

She felt less guilty about her feelings for him. After all, being who he was, it was only natural that she felt something for him, right?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt the resentment that had built up crumbling away with guilt quickly replacing it. He hadn't deserved the treatment she'd given him recently. She needed to apologize, that much was certain, but she wasn't sure how she could even begin to go about it. Because apologizing would also mean explaining and in order to explain…she'd have to tell him about Adrien.

She wasn't sure if she was ready or brave enough to do that.

Then he nearly died right in front of her.

* * *

 **OOP.**

 **Wow I've been waiting for _ages_ to reveal that bit if information. I think it was one of the first things I decided about wielders in this AU, before I even decided to use the name "Guardian". (Fun fact: I chose the name Guardians before we ever heard Fu referred to as "The Great Guardian" in the show). **

**French translation:** _âmes sœurs = sister souls (soul mates)  
_

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	38. Trente Huit

ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

* * *

Papillon had chosen a hot August day to unleash another akuma on the city, the bastard. The sun beat down on them relentlessly, slowly burning the backs of their necks and eating away at their energy.

Chat had been protecting her. He was always protecting her without a care for his own safety or how much it hurt her to see him in pain. Busy relocating the woman who was the subject of Le Réalisateur's ire, she was unaware of the tripod swinging her way until after it had sent Chat Noir flying like a baseball.

His body collided with a building so hard that it cracked the stone and she heard a sickening _crunch_. He collapsed into a heap on the ground and did not get up. Ladybug screamed, abandoning the woman, and raced towards her partner. He didn't move.

"CHAT! CHAT NOIR!"

She dropped to her knees by his side and whispered his name. He wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? Their suits protected them, they were immortal, and he'd taken worse hits than that _so why wasn't he moving_? Then she noticed the blood trickling along the ground from beneath his head. She stared at it for a second, then looked up at the crack in the wall, and she screamed again, hands flying to cover her mouth.

His head. His _head_ had made that crack.

"Chat!" She wailed his name as tears began to pour from her eyes and she put her hand on his face. "Wake up! Wake up, please!"

"Poor little kitty," Le Réalisateur taunted and Ladybug's head whipped around. The akumatized man, someone from the film industry who had been slighted, was sauntering towards them. He tapped his fingers along the top of the slate he carried which was where the akuma undoubtedly was located.

Ladybug shifted into a protective crouch over her partner's vulnerable form. "Stay away!"

"But how romantic! The way he threw himself in the way to protect you!" He placed his hand over his chest. "The brave hero who sacrificed himself for his love. Who am I to render such a tragic plot point null? So, hand over both of your Miraculouses and I'll let you live."

" _NO_!" The cry that ripped its way out of Ladybug's throat was full of pain, denial, and rage. The few who were present to hear her would later agree that it had sounded inhuman and only partly due to the unearthly echo it had possessed.

 _No one_ would touch him. _No one_ would hurt him.

A wave of heat washed through her body and then a red light not unlike that of her Cure burst forth. It soared into the air over their heads then exploded into a dome which encased both heroes. The resulting barrier was made of red transparent energy that ebbed and flowed along its surface, perhaps ten feet in diameter with the heroes at the center. Le Réalisateur growled in rage and snapped his slate. Another tripod like the one that had battered her poor kitty appeared and hurtled towards the dome. The energy rippled like water where it rebounded off but was otherwise unaffected.

Ladybug swayed and leaned forward onto her hands to steady herself. She had no idea where that had come from or how she'd even done that but they were safe for the moment. She looked down at Chat Noir again. " _Chaton_ ," she whispered and then, by some miracle, she spotted it.

It was subtle, almost unnoticeable due to the dark suit he wore, but his chest moved. She ducked down so her cheek was in line with his mouth and waited. A soft stream of air tickled her cheek a moment later and she let out a heavy sob.

 _Alive. Alive, alive, alive._

But not for long. Immortal or not, unless he recovered quickly enough, he was going to die. It was up to her.

She kissed his cheek tenderly, whispering, "My turn."

Ladybug flew into the fray with unprecedented fury. No one had ever seen her fight that way and no one would again for a long time. There were no quips, no attempts to reason with the person trapped inside, just cold fury. She scooped up Chat's baton from where it had fallen and used it to block what her yo-yo could not and let no chance to attack go unexploited. She did not cast Lucky Charm. It was quick, vicious, and unforgiving. It was entirely too long, in Ladybug's opinion, for surely he'd had mere minutes when she left him and it took at least five for her to win. She was expecting to feel the terrifying 'snap' of their bond at any second.

When she separated Le Réalisateur from his slate, she kicked the offending object several feet away and pinned him to the ground with her arm at his throat. "Papillon!" she snarled into the man's face. "I know you hear me. I don't care what you think Black Cat and Mariquita were responsible for: _we're not them!_ And if he dies, I swear, I will make you suffer for it."

She gave the cowering akuma one last shove and then sprang off of him. Casting her Cure, she watched some of its light pass through the barrier she had created and then made quick work of the corrupted butterfly. She did not give the former victim even a passing glance as he came back to himself and instead raced towards the dome.

Several civilians were crowded around the edge and one even seemed to be trying to push through it. From this side the barrier was opaque although Ladybug could still see the energy flowing across the surface and rippling where the woman tried to force her way in. She couldn't tell if Chat was okay or if he was even still in there.

"Lower it, Ladybug! Let me look at him, I'm a doctor," the woman explained but was ignored.

Truth be told, she wasn't sure if she could lower it. She knew it had come from her but beyond that she didn't have a clue. Was _she_ even able to pass through? She'd come out of it without difficulty but would going in be the same? Without slowing her stride, she held out her hand and was only a little surprised to find that she could pass harmlessly through it.

Inside the safety of the dome, Chat Noir was huddled against the building that he had collided with. There was no sign of blood on the ground, the crack itself was gone, and Chat Noir was staring at her with wide, terrified eyes.

He was awake, he was moving, and _alive_. _Alive, alive, alive._

"Chat!" she sobbed and threw herself at him. "Oh my God." She wrapped her arms around him and he sank into her hold almost immediately. "You're okay…" Her fingers flitted around his head, combing through his hair where she had seen the blood, just to check. She had to be certain. "You're okay, oh God." She pressed her lips to his forehead, then his cheek. "You're okay," she whispered and then buried her face in his neck and cried.

Outside the dome, people called their names. They were ignored.

"M-my Lady…" he rasped quietly. "What…is this?"

"I do-don't know. It just happened, I—you're okay, you're—" she pulled back sharply and gripped his face in her hands. "You're such an idiot! You could have died! I thought you _were going to die_!" Her voice dropped to a whisper and her hands slid behind his head, pulling his forehead against hers. "You weren't moving…don't—don't ever…."

"Better me than you," he murmured.

That really was the worst thing he could have said. She had spent the last five minutes wondering if she would ever hear his voice again and _that_ was one of the first things he said to her? "NO," she snapped, jerking back. "Not at all!"

"Miraculous, kwami, partner," Chat Noir recited and she made a sound of disgust.

"No. I don't accept that. You don't just get to use _that_ as an excuse to keep doing this to yourself!" Ladybug insisted. "And if that's the case, then what does it say about me that I let my partner take all the hits?"

Outside the dome, more people were beginning to gather. Hands pressed against the shield, someone was whacking it with a cane, and people called out to them. Ladybug wondered if they were able to hear through the dome at all. Shouldn't they have heard them talking by now?

"I can't stand to see you hurt," he said after a moment.

"And you think I can?!" Ladybug demanded. "You weren't moving and I thought I was going to lose you! What would I have done then, Chat? What do you expect me to do if you die? Cremate you myself and then wait for your kwami to choose a new host and just go on with them as if nothing's changed? I don't want that!"

Chat was looking at her with a funny expression. "I didn't know you cared so much."

All her ire fell away and she was left feeling as if she had been slapped in the face. Two years they had spent together. Two years of fighting and protecting, running and laughing and teasing, and after all that he thought she didn't care? All the times she had sat with him, held him when he needed to be held, came when he needed her, listened when he needed an ear…

Her hands slid from his shoulders into her lap and she simply stared at him. He thought that he was expendable to her? _Replaceable?_ Had a few weeks of coldness been all that it took to shake his faith in her?

"Is that what you think of me?" she whispered, heartbroken.

Chat's expression faltered.

The red hue around them flickered and Ladybug realized that whatever power she'd unlocked was running out. Wiping her tears away with one hand, she picked up Chat's baton from the ground and handed it to him. "Get us out of here," she ordered in a tone that allowed no room for argument.

Chat Noir nodded and slid one arm securely around her back and she knew something was wrong when he didn't so much as grin at the way she slung her leg around his waist. He put his baton against the ground and extended it. They passed through the barrier of the dome just before it dissipated. Cries of shock went up below as the heroes soared towards the rooftops. Chat set her down and retracted his staff.

Out from beneath the light of the shield, he looked perfectly okay, yet Ladybug could tell something was off. Wrong. They got away from the street where the battle had occurred but they did not go far. When Chat Noir abruptly sank down against a crooked chimney pipe, Ladybug did not question it and simply lowered herself beside him. Part of her really wanted to curl up against him so she could feel his heart beating but she was still reeling from the pain of his words.

"How can you think so little of me?" she asked. Chat closed his eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that," he told her quietly.

Ladybug's hands curled into fists. "Then how did you?"

"I just…I know you care, but…" he trailed off and in his expression she saw the pain she had caused him with her brusque words and cold shoulders.

"How can you think you're anything less than the most important person in my life?" Ladybug demanded and Chat sucked in a sharp breath. "Just because I've been…acting different lately doesn't change that. You're the most important person to me and you could have died today and it would have been my fault. If I'd been any slower, you could've died, and how am I supposed to live with that?"

* * *

Marinette spent the next few hours locked in her room alternating between crying and staring blankly out the window. Tikki curled up in the space between her neck and shoulder and nuzzled her every so often, more like a cat than a bug. Alya called her at one point to talk about the akuma attack and gush about Ladybug's new power and it was all Marinette could do to not hang up on her. She managed to get out of the conversation by claiming she wasn't feeling well. It wasn't a lie either because she felt like shit.

After she hung up, she lay on her back for several minutes and stared up at her ceiling, thinking. Then she rolled off her chaise and padded over to her bed. She climbed up the ladder, crawled across the mattress, and pulled the 'Chat Phone' out from its hiding place.

* * *

The first thing she did when she saw him that night was wrap her arms around him. He hugged her back almost immediately and she buried her face in his neck, breathing him in. She leaned away and ran her hands across his head just to make sure he was okay and dove back in for another hug. One last before everything changed.

"There's something I have to tell you, _chaton,_ " she murmured. "I've been putting it off for too long because I didn't want to hurt you and now I've gone and done it anyway."

"What do you mean?" he asked, drawing back.

Ladybug pressed her lips together and stepped out of his hold. His hands fell to his sides limply and the barely-concealed fear on his face caused her chest to tighten painfully. Her fault. She'd done this.

"I'm a coward."

He shook his head. "You're the bravest person I know."

She laughed bitterly and looked away. "Lisitsa told me I should tell you this weeks ago but I've been dragging my feet because I didn't want to hurt you. But it's not fair to you. You can't help how you feel and neither can I and if I'd just _told_ you before then maybe you would've understood." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, lowering her head. "There's this guy…I've known him almost as long as I've known you. He's one of my best friends and I love him. I've loved him for so long but I've never been able to tell him. I was always too scared."

Gathering her courage, she finally looked at Chat Noir's face again. His expression was unreadable but there was a raw look in his eyes that he couldn't hide. She clenched her fists. "You'd like him, I think, if things weren't the way they were. He's kind to everyone, even to one of the worst people I know, and he's a total dork. But our life wouldn't…" She sniffed, blinking away the tears that were brimming in her eyes. "I don't want this for him. He deserves someone who could always be open and honest with him and not someone who would only burden him with danger and secrets. As much as I want to be with him, it just wouldn't be fair to him and I'm trying to let him go and move on but I… it _hurts._ " Her voice broke on the last word and the tears finally began to fall.

"And you—you've been smiling and laughing and acting like you always do and I'm hurting so bad but I couldn't tell you or ask you to stop and I couldn't stand it and was hurting you anyway and—"

Shaking his head, Chat Noir closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around her tightly, and held her. "Shhh, _buginette,_ shhhh," he soothed quietly. "I understand. I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me anything else, it's okay. I forgive you."

Chat held her for a while after that, murmuring to her every so often as she cried. He had to be hurt knowing she loved someone else and had this whole time but he was ignoring his own pain to soothe hers. Eventually she calmed down enough to properly return his hug and propped her chin on his shoulder.

"I love you, y'know," she murmured. "Very much."

He tensed and she felt him exhale against her temple. Then came a light but familiar pressure against the same spot. Her eyes closed at the kiss and she sighed.

"But not how you love me…and I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he croaked. "Please, don't be. You don't owe me anything. I'll be alright."

"Chat, I…" She drew back just enough so she could look him in the eye. "Could—could you give me time?"

"Time?"

"Just…" She pursed her lips and chose her words carefully. "I'm asking you to…you don't have to stop entirely but could you please—"

"Stop flirting with you so much?" he guessed wryly.

She nodded. "Just give me time to get over him, okay? Can you do that?"

"Of course I can! If you had ever asked me to stop or I had seen any sign that you wanted me to then I would have already. Immediately." Eyes boring into her, his expression pleaded for her to understand. "Without question. But you would…flirt back and tease and I thought it was okay. I knew you didn't mean it like I did but I thought—I never realized your heart was set on another."

"Because I never wanted you to," she said, placating. "I could've shut you down from the beginning but I didn't because…I liked it. It was fun. It took me a while to realize you were serious but it was still fun. It was part of us and a part of you and I didn't want you to stop."

Chat Noir nodded. "I'll stop. I can't promise I won't slip but—"

"I know, it's okay." She hesitated for a moment then raised one hand to his cheek. He nuzzled her palm, eyes slipping shut, and the corner of his mouth twitched up towards a smile. "I wouldn't mind giving us a shot one day," she whispered.

His eyes snapped open in shock and he stared. "W-what?" he breathed after a moment.

"If you want, somewhere down the road, we could try…"

"Are you serious?"

Ladybug nodded. "Someday, yes. It wouldn't be fair on either of us to try anything while I'm still getting over him and I don't know how long it will take but I think we'd work. If—if you still want to by then, that is."

He laughed quietly and leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers. He took her hand from his cheek and held it in both of his. "You think I won't wait for you? I don't care if it takes you a month or a year or ten, whenever you're ready, I'll be here."

Ladybug jerked her head back. "Ten ye—Chat, don't put your life on hold for me," she chided and he chuckled.

"What's to put on hold? I could never drag someone else into our life, even if I did love them, but you're the one that I…" he trailed off and swallowed thickly, squeezing her hand. "It's always been you," he confessed so quietly that she wouldn't have been able to hear him if she hadn't been up close. "I've waited this long. If there's a chance, I can wait a little longer."

She could've kissed him then. Part of her really wanted to and the way his eyelids drooped and he leaned closer as they continued to stare at each other indicated he felt the same. But that wasn't fair to either of them or right considering she'd just asked him to give her the space she needed. So with a small, sad smile, Ladybug took a step back. Chat let her go.

"I should go. I need sleep for tomorrow."

Chat Noir swallowed again and nodded. There was something just under the surface hidden by his collected expression that worried her. How was he going to be once she'd gone? She had to do something.

"Hey, _minou_? Do you know how Guardian pairs are chosen?"

He gave her a funny look. "Where did that come from?"

"Do you?"

He shook his head.

"Ask your kwami. I—I think you're gonna like this one."

* * *

 **Only two hearts were broken in the making of this chapter. *cackles***

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	39. Trente Neuf

**Don't say I never give you guys anything cute.**

* * *

Adrien felt pathetic. Even with all her reassurances that she had never minded, he still felt pathetic. Poor lonely boy pining after his partner even though her heart lay elsewhere. It was stupid, he should've known her behavior hadn't meant anything. The touching, cuddling, _kissing_ … purely platonic. He'd been an idiot for thinking there might be anything more.

He lay on his bed facing the wall while Plagg gorged himself on cheese on the end table. He figured he might as well let the kwami eat before asking a question with what was sure to be a long-winded answer, though at least he had Ladybug's promise that he would like it. That was a relief. He wasn't sure how many more infuriating kwami secrets he could take. This could be a nice change, depending on what the response was.

 _Do you know how Guardian pairs are chosen_?

He knew how individuals were chosen. They had to have magical potential and an affinity for the force the kwami embodied. He wondered that last one said about him. He, Adrien Agreste, international model, descendant of old money and an heir in his own right, raised from birth to be a proper member of high society, had an affinity for destruction long before he ever put the ring on his finger. He'd never, to his knowledge, destroyed or ruined anything in his entire life before coming a Guardian.

Ladybug was a creator. He had a physical reminder of this fact just a few inches away from his face in the form of the plush black cat she had given him for Christmas. Handmade, she'd said and he was still amazed at the craftsmanship. He'd been around clothing long enough to know the experienced stitching when he saw it. She was some manner of artist and he supposed that counted.

But him? What had he ever done that was destructive?

It wasn't the first time he'd wondered but it was the first time he'd decided to ask.

Plagg considered him and his question as he finished off the last of his cheese. "Were you happy before you met me, Adrien?"

"No," he answered without thinking. He blinked in surprise then frowned. It was true, he hadn't been happy. From the outside, it seemed he'd had everything he could possibly want, but on the inside….

"What was the first thing you did when you put on the ring?"

"I…went to try it out."

"You shouldn't have gone outside. It was night, past your curfew, no bodyguard, no permission, you just _went_. Then, not long after that, you defied your father and went to school, twice, and then somehow got him to allow you to attend the same school he'd just told you that you could never go to. You ended your isolation, made friends, began to change. You saw Chloe as she is. You fell in love. You threw away any regards for your own safety." Plagg floated off the table, over to the bed, and hovered in front of Adrien's face.

"Destruction is many things, Adrien. People tend to forget that not all destruction is visible or even tangible. You weren't a physically destructive person like some of the others I could've chosen but I sensed potential in you. The first thing you did when you became a Guardian was break the rules and then," Plagg chuckled, "completely obliterated the status quo. All you needed was a little push."

Adrien smiled. He was alright with this answer.

"But it wasn't just you," Plagg went on. "I wouldn't have picked you at all without Ladybug."

His smile faded. "What?"

"Wait, I think I said that wrong. I hate your language sometimes," the kwami grumbled. "I wouldn't have chosen you to be my Guardian if Tikki hadn't chosen that particular girl to be hers, and vice versa. You were chosen because of each other as much as you were chosen because of yourselves."

Adrien sat up. "Ladybug told me to ask you about that. How pairs are chosen."

Plagg nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'll tell you but I'm warning you now, kid, if you cry or anything, I will…leave a whole bunch of cheese lying around the room. Maybe. I don't know. Just no crying, okay?"

* * *

As it happened, Adrien did not cry, but he didn't stop smiling for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next time they saw each other was during an akuma attack. Chat Noir acted no differently than he normally did. He made terrible puns and fought with his usual flare, jumping in front of her whenever something went flying in her direction. The usual. There wasn't a chance to really talk to him so she had no idea if he'd gotten answers yet.

When it was over, the akuma purified and the victim adequately consoled, each with less than three minutes left, they stood together atop a roof just out of sight from the street below. He gazed at her with such wonder that Ladybug did not ask if he knew. He had always looked at her like she was the moon and stars but now there was something new there. Warm and full of awe, almost like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He leaned in in slowly, giving her plenty of time to step away. When she didn't, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "My lady," he whispered.

She grinned and lifted her face. He pulled back respectfully but the awed expression remained. "I told you that you like it," she said quietly.

Chat laughed softly. "I just…wow."

Her earrings beeped and she regretfully took a step away. "I need to go."

"Of course," he agreed, ears drooping.

Biting the inside of her lip, she made an impulsive decision. "Tonight. We'll talk more tonight. Okay?"

Chat Noir nodded eagerly.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat on the edge of a roof, their legs dangling over the side. People went on about their business below them unaware, for the most part, that the Parisian heroes were lurking just over their heads. The few who just so happened to look up and spot them snapped pictures or simply continued on their way. They were such a common sight by now and neither of them looked like they were up to anything important so it was best just to leave them be. Parisians, for the most part, had learned there was no sense in trying to get their attention for things such as interviews and photos unless they were closer to the ground. Any attempts would just result in the two disappearing into the shadows from whence they came.

Unlike most times, however, Ladybug and Chat Noir were more interested in what was going on below them rather than talking to each other. There was so much to say but neither was sure how to begin so they chose to sat in silence together and enjoy the company. When they noticed people looking at them, they would smile or wave and when phones or cameras were produced, they would make silly faces and gestures. Not many people could claim to have a goofy picture of Paris's heroes! Someone must have tipped the Ladyblog off, too, because Alya came riding up on her bike at one point for some pictures. They posed a bit sillier for her benefit.

"You know, I was expecting you to text me that night or the next morning," Ladybug commented as they watched Alya pedal away. "I was surprised when you didn't."

Chat Noir exhaled through his nose. "I thought about it."

"And?"

His head lolled to the side and he smiled ruefully at her. "I said I'd give you space and…I knew that if I saw you immediately after I would do the exact opposite."

She shook her head and nudged his shoulder. "Silly kitty. I wouldn't have minded. …Silly considerate kitty," she amended.

His smile became humorous. "So, any other insights you have for me? Big secrets I need to know?"

She considered this. "I can see through your glamour," she admitted.

He raised his eyebrows but didn't seem very surprised. "Same. Since…do you remember when Lady Wifi thought you were Chloe Bourgeois?"

She nodded and then her eyes widened. "That long? You never said…?"

"Neither did you. How long?"

"Since L'Imposteur."

"Really?" he asked, amused. "I guess that makes sense. He really did look like me. This is good—what else have you been hiding up in your buggy brain?"

Ladybug grinned, feeling playful. "Alright. You've already met me. Regular me. You know my face; you know my name. You just don't know you know."

Chat's jaw dropped. It took him a moment to find his voice, during which time his pupils dilated in surprise. "I do?" he squeaked.

She nodded quickly, biting her lip, and averted her eyes. He was quiet for a moment.

"What if I told you," he began, voice low and devious, "that you've met me, too?"

It was her turn to widen her eyes and go stiff. Her mouth opened in a tiny 'o' of surprise.

"You know my name," he went on. "We've spoken. You helped me."

"You're kidding."

"Totally serious, my Lady."

She stared at him for a moment longer and then burst out laughing. She leaned into him again and he hugged her properly as he joined her in laughter. It went on longer than necessary but neither of them could quite believe it and it really was hilarious.

"Look at us!" she cried, shaking her head.

"What a pair we make," he agreed. "Would it really be so bad if we knew each other?"

"No, it wouldn't," she said. "But it wouldn't be simple, either. We'd have to have rules."

"Such as?"

She couldn't believe they were even talking about this but she sighed and considered it anyway. "Our secret identities are still paramount."

"Of course."

"We couldn't just hang out all the time…and if we did, we'd have to come up with a good story for how we met. My best girlfriend—you don't understand, if she hears any hesitance, any obvious lies, she'll latch onto it and demand details out of me."

Chat Noir winced. "I know someone like that. We're not best friends, though. Must be hard."

"It can be. You also couldn't just swing by my house whenever you wanted or—or show up on my roof unannounced."

"Why would I do that?" He asked, cocking his head.

She gave him an irritable look. "Because I know you."

Chat smiled bemusedly and then shook his head. "Anything else?"

"What if I said you had to bring me flowers every time you came?"

"Then I would find the finest flower shop in between our homes and become their best customer."

Ladybug stared at him for a moment and then a giggle inexplicably bubbled up inside her. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle it but it wouldn't stop. Leaning forward, she rested her forehead on his shoulder and continued giggling quietly. He hooked his arm around her and his shoulders shook as he chuckled and she felt the vibrations of it in his chest.

"What am I going to do with you?" he wondered aloud.

"Race me?"

"Mmmhmm? Where to?"

Inhaling his scent, she leaned back with a smile on her face. " _Pont des Arts_?"

"Ah, yes, the place of love locks. As much as I would love to add one for you and me, I don't think that counts as 'giving you space.' And it might not be good for the Ladyblogger's health."

Ladybug snorted but she had to agree with his first point. "How about…top of the Louvre pyramid?"

He grinned. "You're on."

* * *

She let him win.

* * *

 **Everyone's thinking it so I'll just say it: JESUS _CHRIST, YOU TWO._**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	40. Quarante

Adrien fidgeted nervously outside the door to Marinette's living room. He felt a little bad for bypassing the bakery door and going through the side one but he _needed_ to talk to Marinette and he couldn't risk her parents turning him away again. He'd gotten things squared away with his lady—no matter how much it had hurt—now he needed answers from the second best girl in his life. He needed to know what he'd done to push her away.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door loudly then stuffed his hands inside his pockets. After a moment, he heard a light but rapid thudding coming from the other side of the door. Then the door opened revealing Marinette. Her hair was down, framing her face in a way he rarely saw, and oh, dear, she was wearing her pajamas. It was 9am. Surely he wasn't too early? He hadn't woken her—no, no, Marinette didn't wake that easy. He knew that. She must've already been up.

"A—Adrien?" she squeaked. "What…how…I mean…what are you d-doing here?"

Stammering? He hadn't heard her do that in years. Man, he _must've_ fucked up.

"Can I come in?" he asked meekly.

"I…" She eyed him with trepidation and her hand tightened on the door. "Did my parents let you up?"

He shook his head. "I was afraid they might try and stop me. I _need_ to talk to you, Marinette, but—but if you really don't want me here I can just…" he pointed over his shoulder, "…go."

She stared at him for a long minute and Adrien scarcely breathed during that time. He wished he knew what was going inside her head. Finally, she sighed and nodded, stepping back to let him in. He thanked her quietly and walked into the living room. To his surprise, she motioned for him to follow her upstairs to her room. He swallowed nervously. This had to be a good sign, right? If she was inviting him up to her room then he couldn't have fucked up _that_ badly, right?

"My parents will be upset if they see you snuck up here," she mumbled as she closed the door behind him.

Her room looked much the same as it always did. Mostly neat, bed unmade, and designs tacked to her walls, a few craft supplies on her desk. He was a little surprised though he didn't know why. Had he really expected her room to be any different just because she was?

"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly, afraid to speak louder than she had.

She motioned for him to sit in her desk chair and she retreated to her chaise. Her posture worried him: shoulders hunched, head ducked, she looked defeated, or at the very least afraid.

"What did I do?" Adrien asked before she'd even sat down.

Marinette completely froze for a moment and then her hands clenched into fists. Without a word, she sat down on her chaise and folded in her hands in her lap. She didn't meet his eyes when she sighed, "Nothing."

"Then why are you…." he gestured to her. "Why have you been avoiding me? What happened? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why?" he pleaded.

She glanced up at him. "It's not you, it's me?" she offered lamely.

Adrien's teeth clacked together and his brow furrowed. "Well, it feels like it's me."

She shook her head. "It's not you," she insisted. "You never did anything wrong but I just… I'm a coward."

The words were alarmingly familiar and he responded without thinking. "You're one of the bravest people I know."

Marinette gave him a funny look. "Braver than Alya?"

"Alya is a special kind of brave. She's the only kid I know who'll run head first into an akuma zone. I don't think it's fair to compare anyone to her."

Marinette smiled a bit. "Yeah, you're right." She glanced at him and then looked away again.

Adrien sighed and leaned his head back against the chair. Apparently she wasn't going to make this easy. "Are you going to tell me why?"

Silence met him. A few seconds later, Marinette drew in a shuddering breath and he heard a quiet rustle. "I can't."

Anger flashed through him and he sat straight up, frowning at her. "Seriously?" he demanded. "One of my best and only friends suddenly decides to shut me out and I don't even get an explanation? You owe me more than that, Marinette."

"I know."

Adrien waited. She didn't elaborate. He growled quietly and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine. I'll just show myself out." He stood up.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Marinette blurted out.

He blinked in surprise before frowning again. Seriously? Two for two? Just his luck. "Yeah, well, too late."

She winced as if he'd slapped her. "I know. I know but I—I needed space. I need space."

"For what?! Why?! What did I _do_?" he demanded, voice breaking on the last word.

"Because I'm trying to get over you!"

Adrien staggered but thankfully her eyes were squeezed shut and she didn't see. No, no way. This wasn't possible. Marinette? "What?" he squeaked.

"I've had a massive crush on you since we practically met and I'm trying to get over it because you deserve so much better than me and it's not fair to either us but I'm not good at this and I didn't know how to say and I just—I'm trying and…" She sniffled, shoulders sagging. "And I don't know how to…"

Adrien lived in a world of gods and magic, of secrets, mythology, and curses; a place where moralities were grayed, bodies were transformed beyond human limits, and the secret to immortality was contained in pieces of jewelry. Where kids traded their souls for power and their lives for the greater good. Where gods manifested in the bodies of tiny creatures and he had the power to obliterate at the tips of his fingers. Yet in this crazy world, he had never heard something as unbelievable as Marinette Dupain-Cheng confessing to having feelings for him.

It was almost unfathomable. Of all people, she'd fallen for _him_? Why? And…all this time? How had she kept it a secret? Why had she kept it a secret?

He felt sick. All those times they'd been alone together. The way she smiled at him. The little gifts and niceties. She'd felt for him the whole time? How had he never noticed? He'd once acknowledged that he could love her if things were different but they weren't and he—he was…. He had nothing to offer her and his heart belonged to another, who was going through a heartbreak of her—

Adrien blinked and his eyes focused on Marinette again and for perhaps the first time in a long, long time, he really _looked._

Slight frame, fair skin, dark hair with a faint blue sheen. Her eyes were closed but he knew their color. Her face was flushed and her cheeks were wet but…he could just see them…. The cute smattering of freckles across her nose. She had the edge of something black in her hands and familiarity struck him like a jolt of electricity.

His feet began carrying him forward without his permission and before he knew it, he was standing over her. Kneeling down, he peered at the corner of the black blanket she had clutched in her hands. Following the length of it with his eyes, he saw it was tucked lumped around the back of the chaise, like she'd been sitting with it when she was last here.

"Mari…look at me," he requested softly, laying his hand over top of hers. Marinette shook her head. He wanted to wipe her tears away but he wasn't sure she would welcome the touch at the moment. If he was right…

God, he hoped he was right.

"Where did you get this?" He ran his hand over the blanket. It felt the same. He was tempted to bury his face in it and sniff. Even untransformed, he was sure he would recognize the scent if he smelled it again. Their scents changed when transformed but he'd fallen asleep under the blanket he'd given Ladybug a few weeks ago and the scent of her untransformed had practically embedded itself in his memory. He hadn't been near Marinette as Chat Noir since, nor had he ever had cause to memorize her scent, but now he wished he'd had.

Marinette opened her eyes and sniffed. "It was a gift," she croaked.

Adrien bit his lip and looked up at her. "A Christmas gift?"

Marinette didn't respond but the look of surprise that flitted across her face was enough. _Oh God._ He hadn't expected this. He hadn't planned…they hadn't talked about…they weren't _ready_ , but it—it was _her_ …. He couldn't keep this to himself. It was _her_ and _he_ was the one that she…

There was a chance, of course, that it was all coincidence and Adrien would be inclined to agree, perhaps, if not for the blue eyes staring at him. He knew those eyes. He'd gotten lost in them countless times. They'd stared at him intently in the heat of battle, they'd reflected city lights as they ran at night, they rolled when he was being a dork, and softened when she was being kind.

"My lady?" Adrien whispered.

* * *

" _Doesn't matter who's under that mask, I love this girl."_

* * *

 **:')**


	41. Quarante-et-Un

**I know I said I wasn't gonna update this until Pint Sized was finished but fuck 2016. Take this. Let it be a balm.**

* * *

Curled up together on her chaise, arms holding each other close, bodies pressed together for the first time without impenetrable suits or the shroud of darkness to keep them apart. He nuzzled the top of her head with his cheek and she sighed contentedly.

 _A gasp of disbelief and a whisper of his other name. Eyes seeking and finding._

His fingers slid across the skin of her hand, tracing gentle lines along her fingers, her palm, the back. He curled his hand around hers and squeezed before lacing their fingers together.

 _Hands on faces, fingers catching tears before they could fall. Soft sounds of disbelief morphing into quiet, giddy laughter._

The sense of trust and familiarity they had always felt in one another. The indescribable pull they each had felt towards the other for as long as they could remember. The urge to _protect_. Because it was _her,_ it was _him_ , it had always been _them_. From the moment they'd met on both sides of their masks, their minds had been trying to tell them what their eyes couldn't perceive.

He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss first to her knuckles, then the back of her hand. She sighed again.

"Chat," she murmured and couldn't believe it.

"Ladybug," he replied at the same volume. She lifted her eyes to his and the strength of the emotion she saw there would've surely knocked her over had she not already been sitting. Her lips curled upwards and she snuggled closer to him.

She had so much to say, so much she wanted to ask, so many things he _needed_ to know, but she couldn't find the words. So instead she reached for his face again and cradled his cheek in her hand, smiling when he leaned into her touch and his eyes slipped shut.

A flash of red in the corner of her eye caught her attention for a brief moment and she glanced at her kwami and the tiny black cat kwami beside her. The two gods were watching them, Tikki with pure unbridled joy, and Plagg with something that looked suspiciously like smugness.

She looked away. There would be time for the kwami later; this moment was _theirs._

"It's you," she whispered again. He'd been right there all this time, the two boys she cared dearly for melded into one person she that she loved.

"I can't believe it," he whispered back, peering at her from under drooping eyelids. The expression reminded her of a contented cat and was a little surprised to not feel a purr rumbling in his chest. Were he any more of a cat she was certain she would.

She knew exactly what he meant. It wasn't that she couldn't see Adrien in Chat or vice versa, rather that she could hardly believe her luck. Because she loved both sides of him in different ways and, sure, the discrepancy between the two would need a bit of time to be sorted through, but her heart was his, completely and utterly, and had been for longer than she'd realized. Except that it was too good to be true and if being a Guardian had taught her anything it was that if something seemed too good to be true than it undeniably was.

Suddenly he smiled, lowering his forehead to hers and her hand fell away from his face in surprise. "Marinette?" he murmured like it was a secret. "Does this mean you don't need space anymore?" She bit her lip and it did not escape his notice. Pulling away, he stammered quickly, "I-if you do I can give it to you but I just—I thought that maybe it was me and—"

"It was you— _is_ you," she reassured him. Relief washed across his face, followed by a look of utter joy and adoration. Their foreheads bumped together again and he brushed his nose across hers. Her kitten.

Her heart clenched in her chest and she suddenly found herself unable to meet his gaze and was forced to pull away. She took a deep breath.

"My lady?"

The concern in his voice only hurt her further. "I'm sorry, I just—I've been trying so hard to let you go and the one thing I kept telling myself over and over was that dragging you into my life wouldn't be fair. It didn't matter how I felt about you because I didn't want you involved in all this and letting you go would keep you safe and happy because you deserve so much more."

Tears were welling in her eyes again and she reached up to wipe them furiously with her free hand. "But you've been here all along and it was all for nothing. We've both been hurting so much these last few weeks and it was for _nothing_."

"Hey, hey, buginette," he said quickly, cupping her cheek with his hand. "It's okay. Don't cry, please. It wasn't for nothing. It—what you were willing to go through because of me—you're the one who deserves so much more."

She shook her head. "What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to figure this out," he said firmly. "We're Ladybug and Chat Noir—we can get through anything. I've seen you solve things crazier than this in just a few minutes. We're going to be okay."

The utter confidence in his words, in her, made something warm rush through her veins and she found herself smiling again.

He smiled back and brushed a wayward tear away with his thumb. "For the record, if it had to be anyone I knew, then I'm glad it's you."

She felt her cheeks grow hot and she had the sudden overwhelming urge to _tell him_. She'd held it in for so long and he already knew she cared deeply for him, having already admitted it him on both sides of their masks, but suddenly it was imperative that he know, because as much as she wished it wasn't him she was glad that it was and he needed to understand.

"I love you."

His breathing hitched and his expression grew awed. His mouth opened wordlessly, closed, and then he laughed quietly. "Thank you," he whispered and she nearly snorted. "Thank you," he repeated again and again, leaning in, and she wondered if he was speaking entirely to her. His hand slid to the back of her head and he nuzzled her cheek.

"I love you," she told him again because she could and his arm tightened around her. He pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek, underneath her eye, her forehead, temple, and her cheek again, finally giving into the temptation he'd been suppressing for years.

"My lady," he murmured. He didn't need to say the words because she knew, oh, she knew, and she could feel them with every press of his lips against her skin.

* * *

Deciding to give them some privacy, the kwami retreated downstairs to the kitchen and living room area. Plagg flew right to the couch and settled down on one of the pillows like he owned the place and Tikki landed beside him a moment later.

"Well," he said, "that certainly explains a lot."

Tikki giggled. "It does, doesn't it? We chose well."

"Yeah. We did."

* * *

They were both curious and rightfully so. They hadn't moved from the chaise when Tikki and Plagg finally reappeared. Adrien was the one to beckon them over and the kwami settled down on their knees.

"We're happy for you," Tikki told them with a warm smile. Plagg nodded.

"Did you know?" Marinette asked.

The kwami shook their heads. "Normally, we would have, but _someone_ —" Plagg threw a significant look in his counterpart's direction "—insisted on secrecy this time."

"Oh, hush," Tikki buzzed. "You agreed with me. Hmph. What Plagg is trying to say is that normally we know who each other's Chosen are, just in case something goes wrong. But in this case, we thought it would be safer for you both if we didn't, that way if one of us was captured, the other would still be safe. This time has been very unusual all around."

"Tell me about it," Plagg grumbled. "We also haven't had a pair keep their identities from each other for so long, either."

"Really? But you told us we had to keep our identities secret, even from each other," Adrien reminded him with a frown.

"For the same reason we didn't know, either," Tikki explained. "I, at least, never told you that you couldn't, Marinette. In fact, I recall saying Chat Noir was the only one in your life that you _could_ tell. The choice was always up to you, I just strongly advised against it."

Marinette nodded. That was true.

"So what happens now?" Adrien asked. "We know. Are we still safe?"

"You're more at risk now than you were yesterday," Plagg deadpanned. "But it's been over a year since you got hoodwinked by an akuma and your bond to the miraculous is a lot stronger than it was the last time."

"Hoodwinked?" he repeated the unfamiliar English word uncertainly.

Plagg tapped his chin. "I think I used that word wrong."

"You did," Tikki agreed.

"Not important. What's important is that you're not likely to be an akuma's thrall again so Papillon probably won't find her out that way. Same goes for you, Marinette. Really, at this point, all you gotta do is make sure your identities don't become public knowledge and you keep your Miraculous on. Like usual."

Adrien shook his head. "Is it really that simple?"

"I don't see why it can't be."

Both teenagers looked at Tikki for confirmation and the red kwami nodded. "Nothing has to change if you don't want it to. Although, from the looks of things, I'd say a few things already have for the better." She eyed them and their tangled limbs knowingly. Marinette smiled bashfully and snuggled closer to Adrien.

Tightening his arm around her, Adrien replied, "Couldn't agree more."

* * *

 **:3c**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	42. Quarante Deux

**updatin 2 fics in 1 day yeaaaaaahh boi**

* * *

At first Adrien and Marinette kept it a secret from everyone, controlling themselves enough to keep up appearances around their friends and family so it would seem that they resolved their 'issues' and were going back to normal. They kept half their lives secret from everyone around them, their budding relationship was nothing compared to that.

Except it wasn't all an act. That first week was full uncertain looks, shy smiles, frequent touches, and the occasional kiss on the forehead or cheek. They knew who they were and where they wanted to be, it was just a matter of getting their bearings first. Identities needed to be solidified in their minds, differentiating feelings sorted out. They loved each other, no doubt about it, but the varying degrees of emotion attached to each identity needed to be reconciled before they could move forward in their relationship.

It took less time than either of them expected.

* * *

The first time they saw each other in their masks after that fateful discovery was patrol the next evening. They met at the rendezvous closest to their houses and each arrived a little before the designated time out of nervousness. Marinette thought the moment would be intimate somehow. This meeting would be the undeniable _proof_ that they were who they were. For the first time, she would look at Chat Noir and know that he was Adrien, her long-time crush, as well her partner, soul mate, and best friend.

When Ladybug's eyes found Chat Noir as he emerged from the shadows, her heart did indeed stutter in her chest…just not in the way she'd been expecting.

She had seen through the magical defense which prevented people from remembering their physical features well over a year ago when they had fought L'Imposteur. Yet it was not until that moment that she realized she had never truly _seen him_. And not only that, but in all the days and hours they had spent in each other's company, she hadn't realized, either. She remembered his hair and eyes, his round nose, and bright smile. She remembered recognizing the changes in his face as puberty progressed merrily along but even still she had not _seen_ him.

Because looking at him right then, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was Adrien Agreste in a freaking _catsuit_. It was so obvious that she could hardly stand it. Sure his hair grew longer with the transformation and he had feline eyes but other than that literally _nothing changed._ She made a quiet, almost pained noise, and then burst out laughing.

Adrien-Noir cocked his head to the side in confusion and he approached her warily. "My lady?"

"I cannot even believe this! You look almost exactly the same!" she cackled.

He stopped in his tracks, blinking rapidly. "Yes?"

"I—I mean… _you!_ " she panted between laughs. "You look the same! Adrien and Chat—your face looks _exactly…_ the same!"

His mouth curled into a sly grin as he comprehended the subject of her humor. "You do, too, bug. These pigtails—" he reached out to flip one with his hand "—you wore them almost every in _troisième_! You just…oh my god…you just get these ribbons added on. How did we not realize?!"

There had to be another layer to their disguises, something the kwami hadn't told them about. The same thing that kept Alya and her parents, for example, from recognizing her every time they came face to face. How else could she have had a conversation with her own mother and not been discovered? How else could they each have spent hours and hours with the person they loved with and without their masks and not known?

After that, patrol proceeded as normal. Both of them were relieved. It wasn't weird. Things had changed and they were _better_.

* * *

For the first few weeks, Adrien often spent his evenings with her, out of sight from friends and family. When they weren't out in uniform, they hung out on her balcony, sometimes in her room after her parents were asleep. It wasn't unusual for him to stay until their eyes were heavy and he had to stumble home with nothing but Guardian reflexes to keep him from going splat. But he didn't mind, it was worth it— _she_ was worth it. For so long he had only been able to see her while they were in uniform and now he could be with her as himself. No masks, no darkness, no secrets. Just her and him and if he had to suffer through a bit of grogginess then so be it.

Marinette was worried about him even though he insisted he was perfectly capable of and okay with making the short trek home despite his sleepy state. Part of her, a very large part of her, in fact, wanted to invite him to stay, offer half of the bed to him on the condition he didn't hog all the covers, but she wasn't sure if she should. This was still so new, they were still new, and though neither of them were hesitant to show the other physical affection in the form of kisses, hugs, and cuddles, Marinette didn't know if they were ready for that kind of intimacy.

They had fallen asleep together before as Ladybug and Chat Noir; small naps after patrols, that Englishwoman's balcony during the Volpina incident, and on top of the Notre Dame the night Lisitsa had accidentally triggered the fear bond between them. But those moments had been accidental or out of necessity and not in her room, in her bed. Even if it was just sleeping, sharing her bed would undoubtedly be an intimate experience for both of them.

She loved him as much as he loved her, there was no question about it, yet she was afraid. Though of what she wasn't entirely sure.

* * *

Sometimes, Adrien would just stare at Marinette. He tried to keep it to a minimum in public, but when they were alone and her eyes were closed or elsewhere, he couldn't help but stare at her.

This…was Ladybug. This beautiful, kind, amazing girl who'd been his friend for so long was also the partner that he had spent years running, laughing, and fighting beside. The girl who had once stumbled over her words around him was the one that made him abandon logic and speak from his heart. The gentle hands that he had watched design and craft beautiful clothes and annihilate her enemies with a controller were the same ones that, encased in a magic suit, always held fast to his and never let him fall.

The girl who had opened her home to him was the one who had left her bed at night to comfort him after a nightmare so bad that it had woken them both.

The girl he had once thought he could love if their lives were different was the one he was destined to spend the rest of his life with.

He was holding Ladybug's hand in broad daylight and running across the rooftops of Paris with Marinette at light.

Ladybug had always belonged to Chat Noir, a part of his life so far from the rest of it that he almost felt like it was a different life altogether. He had long ago resigned himself that it was going to be that way for the foreseeable future, no matter how much he wished otherwise. And now…here she was. Not only that, she'd _always_ been there. Nothing had changed all except that he knew.

And he couldn't help but stare at her and marvel that this was real. _She_ was real. This wonderful, amazing girl was the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with. She was his partner. She was his friend. She was the one he loved with all his heart.

If this was a dream, then he never wanted to wake up.

* * *

They decided to break the news to Nino and Alya as subtly as possible by simply holding hands when the four of them were out together, less than two weeks after discovering each other's identities. Both of their friends zeroed in on it immediately and Marinette was quite impressed with Alya's restraint, which lasted exactly one full hour. The moment it was just the two of them, Marinette got grilled. From Alya's questioning, Marinette's mother found out, then Tom, and next thing she knew, Adrien was being invited over for dinner. He'd charmed her parents well over a year ago and they were both extremely fond of him already so it didn't take much for them to approve of their relationship.

Alya was absolutely thrilled. At long last, one of her OTPs was cannon. Little did she know that her other one was as well. Ladybug and Chat Noir had always been playful and close but any moments of affection between their hero personas were kept strictly out of sight. She hoped. And if not, well, half of Paris was convinced they'd been in a relationship since the early days, anyway.

The next person to find out was Gabriel Agreste. Marinette was worried about how Adrien's father would take the news. They had met on a number of occasions when Marinette had been at Adrien's house and he had been polite to her, but there was a chance he would not approve of their relationship, might even forbid it. He was so controlling over Adrien's life, a girlfriend was sure to shake things up, and Marinette was hardly a girl of standing and class. He knew she was a budding designer. There were many selfish reasons she could be trying to date him and he might not believe her if she denied them.

Just as she'd feared, there was some suspicion on the elder Agreste's face when Adrien broke the news, and maybe she was imagining things, but she thought she might have seen some confusion as well. But Adrien's hand held onto hers firmly and though his tone and expression were benign, the tension in his shoulders told her that he was ready to dispute his father's verdict if he did not agree.

Neither of them were expecting Gabriel to suddenly smile at them and invite Marinette to come sit in front of his desk with a tone far kinder than Adrien was used to. He had some questions for her, of course, and though he did not openly ask if she had ulterior motives, she knew he was fishing. She answered each question as honestly as she could, barring answers that would hint at her dual identity, and in the end it paid off. She left the mansion that day with Gabriel Agreste's approval and far less weight on her shoulders than when she'd arrived.

There was, however, one person that Adrien and Marinette had forgotten to consider.

* * *

"Marinette. Dupain. Cheng."

Marinette was just shutting the door to their building when an all-too-familiar voice bit out her name like it was a curse. She tensed and whipped around quickly. Chloe Bourgeois stood just a few feet away, as fashionable as always, makeup sharp, not a hair out of place, and a sneer on her face.

She swallowed. Of course, she should've known it was only a matter of time before Adrien's former best friend out about their relationship.

"Chloe," she greeted, wary.

"Is it true?" the blonde demanded.

"Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Chloe spat. She thrust a rolled up magazine that Marinette hadn't noticed before out in front of her. "You know _exactly_ what I mean. And so does everyone else who reads this _gossip rag_."

Marinette stared just long enough for Chloe to scoff and yank the magazine open. She flipped through the pages with enough force that she ripped one before she found what she was looking for and whipped it around for Marinette to see. There were a few photos on the page, some she recognized as local celebrities, others were from America, but the clear subject of Chloe's irewas the photo smack in the middle of Adrien and…herself?

The moment wasn't intimate, thank God, just her and Adrien standing close together with their fingers entwined between them, but it was enough for the tabloids to do what they did best. Her jaw dropped and a million questions began racing through her mind. She'd worn that shirt a few days ago, how old was this magazine? How many people had seen this? Had Adrien? What would her parents say if they found out? Her friends? _Gabriel?_

"You really didn't see something like this coming?" Chloe's snide tone cut through Marinette's panicked thoughts and forced her back into the present. "Adrien may not be a movie star but he _is_ a famous model and an heir to a large fortune. That makes him a _celebrity._ People care about what he does with his time…and who."

Her cheeks flamed. "W-w'ere not—"

"Yeah, I _know_ you're not." The look she gave her was mocking but her tone was firm. "But that's only because I know you both. Everyone else, however—"

Marinette lifted her chin challengingly. "What do you want, Chloe? Because if you're here for a fight, I'm not in the mood."

"Well, tough, because we _are_ going to talk about this." Rolling the magazine back up, Chloe clenched it in her fist once more and brandished in front of her. "You and Adrien are dating."

"Is that a problem?"

"I don't know, is it? _Will it be_?"

"I don't have to answer to you about my relationship. What happens between me and Adrien is _our_ business and we don't need you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Again."

"Oh, please. If it involves Adrien, then it's my business."

 _Wanna bet_? Marinette thought viciously, thinking as well of tiny gods, magic, ancient duties, and nights spent racing across the city.

Chloe's expression hardened. "I know he and I aren't close anymore and we haven't been for a long time but don't forget that _I_ was his first friend. Not Nino and definitely not _you._ I've known him for nearly ten years. _I_ was at his first modeling gig _and_ his first fencing tournament. _I_ was there when his mother disappeared. _I_ was the one who convinced him to come to public school. And despite what everyone seems to believe, _I_ actually care about _him_. Can you say the same?"

About halfway through Chloe's rant, Marinette felt her defensiveness and anger begin to wane, settling into understanding by the end. Chloe wasn't here to pick a fight or challenge Marinette's claim. She came from high society and politics. In her world, people used each other. Everyone you knew was a connection, every connection had its purpose, and you were only worth something if you were useful. She was here to protect Adrien.

"You think I'm going to use him," Marinette guessed. "You think I only want him because he's a rich model and he could further my career or something."

"That's exactly what I think. And so will a lot of people." Chloe shook the magazine for emphasis.

"Well, I don't care what people think." Marinette replied succinctly. "That includes you. But you're also right. You are his oldest friend and I know you're only trying to look out for him. I promise, I'm with Adrien because I love _him,_ not because I want what he has. He chose me as much as I chose him."

Chloe considered her for a long moment and then, finally, lowered her arm and the magazine. "I don't care about you but I do care about Adrien and I don't want to see him hurt. I want him happy. He deserves happiness…more than either of us."

Marinette raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

"If you hurt him, I will _end_ you," she warned.

"Chloe, I am the last person you have to worry about hurting him," Marinette informed her sincerely. "I want him happy, too."

"Hmmm." The other girl looked Marinette up and down slowly. "Then I hope you're ready for what comes with dating a celebrity. They didn't name you in the magazine but it won't be long before someone rats you out. There are going to be eyes on you and him for a while until the novelty wears off. Every time you set foot out in public, you better walk, talk, and look like a princess or they will eat you alive."

"Wow, Chloe. It almost sounds like you _do_ care about me."

Chloe wrinkled her nose. "Oh please. If either of you fucks up it's going to reflect poorly on Adrien. I don't want that. So shut up and take my advice."

Marinette bit back a smile and nodded.

"Good." Chloe lifted her chin. "Now. I'm going to Adrien's so if that's where you're headed, take the scenic route."

"Ex _cuse_ me?"

She held up the magazine. "I'm about to inform my oldest friend that I found out about his first girlfriend from a gossip rag. Do you really want to be there for that?"

"Er…I think I'll go have a walk along the river."

"Smart choice. Oh, and Marinette? You should really consider learning the celebrity salute if you want to deter the paparazzi."

Marinette cocked her head in confusion. "Celebrity salute?"

Chloe smirked and flipped her off.

* * *

An hour later, Marinette was in Adrien's room and Chloe, thankfully, was not. Adrien seemed to have survived the encounter unscathed and he grimaced when she informed him that Chloe had paid her a visit, too. He was surprised that Chloe had cared enough to caution her, though, but discouraged the 'celebrity salute'.

"She's…right," he admitted uncomfortably. "People will probably be interested in you but only as long as you're interesting. You can't play to them too much or they'll keep coming back for more but if you're too shy then you could end up making them even more curious."

Marinette sighed and lowered herself onto his couch, rubbing at her eyes. "So what do I do? I'm used to this as Ladybug, sort of, but I like my anonymity as Marinette."

Adrien shifted behind the couch and placed his hand on her shoulder soothingly. "I'm sorry. I wish I'd have thought about this sooner."

"It would've come out sooner or later," she pointed out with a sigh and lowered her hands. "You're a celebrity."

"Yeah," he muttered sourly.

"What do I do, then? It's only one magazine right now but that's gonna change."

"We," Adrien corrected. "We let them see us out on a couple dates and things, just long enough for them to figure out we're not about to get into any scandals or give them anything to publish other than cutesy pictures. They'll get bored eventually."

Marinette worried her bottom lip with her teeth. It could work. She didn't see anything wrong with his plan and he was more versed in this song and dance than she was. As long as they weren't caught getting hot and heavy in an alley somewhere (not that she foresaw that being a problem) then the news would eventually move on.

She quirked her brow and twisted around to face him. "Is this your way of asking me out on a date?"

Adrien's eyes widened and he sputtered for a moment before all his embarrassment fell away, replaced by pure Chat Noir Suave™. "Technically speaking, my lady," he drawled, leaning over the back of the couch, "You and I have been going on dates for years now."

"Ah, ah, _chaton_ ," Marinette replied, leaning in as well. "Patrols don't count as dates. And neither does training or hanging out in an empty apartment getting lessons for kwami. Besides, that was Ladybug and Chat Noir, not Adrien and Marinette."

"Really? Then, in that case, yes, I am most definitely asking you out on a date. As us."

* * *

Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin when she opened the door six days later and saw her schoolyard rival standing there with another magazine in her hand. "You going to let me in or you going to stand there looking even more ridiculous than normal?" She almost slammed the door in her face. She would have if Chloe hadn't held up the magazine she was holding pointedly. Marinette let her in.

Chloe took a cursory glance around the room and muttered something about an "unhealthy excess of pink" then perched on the back of the couch and opened the magazine to a dog-eared page.

Marinette waited with butterflies dancing in her belly. She and Adrien had gone out to eat at a little café two days ago and would've gone to the cinema if there hadn't been akuma attack not long after. It had been fairly public with outdoor seating. He'd warned her there was a chance someone might see them and snap some photos but there hadn't been any sort of commotion and she'd managed to relax by the time their food arrived.

"' _Love at last?'"_ Chloe read aloud. _"'Renowned supermodel and certified 'hottie' Adrien Agreste was spotted on what appeared to be a date!"_ Chloe paused and glanced up to gauge her reaction. _"According to a former student at Coll_ _è_ _ge Francois Dupont, where Adrien attended during 3éme, the young lady in question has been among his group of friends since almost the beginning. But what's more, this student claims that she had a_ ' _ridiculously obvious crush on him in 3éme—'"_

"Just kill me now," Marinette groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Well, it was ridiculously obvious."

"How much worse does it get?"

"Eh, there's a bit of speculation about you," Chloe answered, scanning the article with her eyes.  
"They give your first name but nothing more. Whoever tipped them off obviously had _some_ respect for you because they didn't even mention you're a wannabe designer. Either that or they didn't know. At least you know it wasn't anyone in our class."

"Really? How can you tell?"

"Because there were only three people who entertained these ridiculous things. Myself, Sabrina, and Rose. It wasn't me, Sabrina wouldn't dare, and can you honestly see _Mademoiselle I-Do-Charity-Work-With-a-Prince_ ratting you out?"

She sighed. "Is the picture good at least?"

For an answer, Chloe turned the magazine around so Marinette could see the photo taking up the top half the page. It was zoomed in like it had been shot from across the street but clearly showed her and Adrien sitting at a little table, smiling at each other over their meal. She had to admit they looked rather cute together.

"Can I keep this?"

* * *

"Well," Alya said as she regarded the new addition to Marinette's wall. "At least it's not a clipping of just Adrien again."

* * *

 **these dorks**

 **Anyone else here for strangely supportive Chloe?**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	43. Quarante Trois

School would be kicking back off in just a few short weeks which would mean the end to the glorious amounts of free time they'd had enjoyed all summer. Free time that, without which, they would not have made it through the summer with their secret identities intact. Their new relationship had given them the ability to disappear under the guise of 'dates' or just hanging out as a couple. A solid alibi for their activities as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

In the wake of revelations and feelings, neither of them realized that they had sorely neglected a crucial part of being a superhero (or a Guardian) until their kwami pointed it out: powers training. Chat Noir's destruction sense and Ladybug's shields, both of which they had come into over the summer and had yet to master. His ability wasn't one that could easily be practiced, rather was something that had to be worked on over time as situations arose. Every time a new akuma manifested he was able to get a sense of the direction it was going to be in but beyond that he was still unclear of how it worked.

What they really needed was a way to time how long it took for his "kitty sense" to start tingling after the victim was transformed. Was it the transformations that caused it or the first destructive act? What was the radius for his power? Another issue was that he hadn't noticed any difference in tingles between akumas and things like bad car accidents because those set him off, too, and according to Plagg, so would anything that had the potential to cause a lot of damage.

Unless Ladybug wanted to start setting off bombs somewhere, there wasn't much either of them could do to test his power other than wait and hope for an opportune moment.

On the other hand, her power could be tested and practiced both easily and safely.

They decided to practice in Adrien's room first. Part of his success as a Guardian so far had been due to the simple fact that no one at home bothered him unless they needed him. This continued even with his girlfriend over, much to their relief. Even still…Adrien decided to put his backpack in front of one door and his fencing bag in front of the other so anyone who tried to come in without permission would be delayed, if only for a second.

"I'm very glad you manifested this power," Tikki told her as they sat on his couch. As I've told you before, there are a number of possible unique abilities you could develop, and there is no way to know which ones you'll get or how many. Mariquita did not have this one."

"So how does it work?" Adrien asked eagerly.

"I can make impenetrable shields," Marinette explained.

"Nearly impenetrable," Tikki corrected. "Fortunately for us, the only ones who have ever been able to break through or destroy the shields have been previous Black Cats."

"Cataclysm?" Adrien guessed.

"Yes…as well as sheer will."

"Really?"

"You're going to be very powerful one day, Adrien," Plagg intoned, drifting into their field of vision. "Give it five years, maybe ten, and you will be able to bring an entire city to its knees if so inclined. Some of your predecessors have. Yours, too, Freckles."

Adrien shivered and Marinette shifted uncomfortably.

"But that's a long way away," Tikki interrupted quickly, shooting Plagg a look. "Rome wasn't built in a day. We would know. We were there." She winked and Marinette relaxed. "As I was saying: shields. I haven't had a Ladybug manifest this power in a while and considering what we're up against, I think it's very good that you have. With practice, you will be able the control the size, shape, and even the duration of the shields. If all else fails, a small shield around your body or even your head or Adrien's hand could be what saves your lives and Miraculous."

"Okay," Marinette said slowly. "I'm ready to try."

* * *

They spent the first few days practicing in Adrien's room.

The easiest for her to make was a small wall in front of herself. The first thing they learned was that, try as she might, she could not get the barrier to let him in, neither as Chat Noir nor Adrien, without taking it down entirely. He could, however, walk out from behind them. It worked the same with walls and domes she created around him.

The second thing of importance they learned was that, like Lisitsa and her illusions, she could only make a limited amount before she would begin to time out. According to Tikki, the size and duration of the shield would determine how much power was drained and that she would learn to gauge her own power reserves in time.

She started out small. The first day was devoted to creating barriers around herself, between things, and around objects of different sizes, all of which were located within a few meters of her body. On the second day she began trying to create shields further away from herself. This proved to be more difficult, though Tikki assured her she would get the hang of it in time.

Once she got used to making shields, they moved their training outdoors so she could start working on a larger scale. Try as she might, she could not create a dome as big as the one she'd made to protect them from the akuma. Chat suggested it could've been caused by the adrenaline rush, emotional outburst, and an explosion of magic. Ladybug was inclined to agree. That didn't stop her from attempting anyway.

Within a few weeks, she could create a shield that spanned a three-foot radius around the target.

When the first akuma attack after practice began came, Chat Noir suggested she treat it like a scrimmage in basketball. A practice run, as it were. Ladybug did not appreciate the analogy when that was a living, breathing akuma down there ranting about summer vacation being eternal and not a friendly opponent. Even still, he had a point. This akuma wasn't particularly dangerous compared to others they had faced. She might as well get in some combat practice while she could.

* * *

Adrien's first day at his new _lycée_ with Marinette, Nino, and Alya was much like his first day at Francois-Dupont. No one was expecting him and half the student body recognized him. But nobody had a chance to come up to him because his friends were downright determined to make sure he would have a chance to get through the morning un-accosted. Marinette on one side holding his hand, Nino on the other, Alya in front to clear the path, they carefully navigated the throng of students to the lockers and then to Adrien's first class.

Unfortunately, Marinette would only be having one class with him this term. Adrien had, to no one's surprise, chosen to follow the sciences series, and Marinette was in economics and social sciences along with Nino. They had been extremely fortunate enough to all have English together. Alya, however, was going down the literature path and didn't have a single course with him. Adrien assured them that he didn't mind, he was just happy to be in the same school!

Before parting, Adrien ducked down and gave Marinette a quick, chaste kiss. Nothing that would set any authority figures off about the rules of PDA but just enough to convey to any watching eyes that he was unavailable.

The first few minutes alone passed tensely for Adrien. As much as he enjoyed knowing his friends were in the same building…he was at his third new school in as many years, he was still an awkward turtle, and there was no one around him to help break the ice. Sensing his nervousness (or maybe feeling the way Adrien's fingers ran nervously over the ring), Plagg phased through his bag and gently pat his leg. Adrien smiled to himself.

The professor, a stout man with a mass of bright blonde curls on his head, introduced himself to the students as M. Lacroix and something about him put Adrien at ease. Then he went through roll call. Adrien's name came second and he raised his hand politely.

M. Lacroix paused, head cocked, and eyed him curiously. "Agreste?" he repeated.

Adrien pressed his lips together and smiled tightly. _Please don't._

The man made a quiet sound of surprise and nodded. "Welcome."

Adrien relaxed and ducked his head to try and hide the fact that he was sighing in relief. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that his desk mate, a girl whose name had not been called yet, was looking at him with interest.

The rest of the class passed without incident. His desk mate, Carine, was probably being a little too friendly considering they had only just met but he didn't want to embarrass himself by jumping to conclusion so he let her be. He was out of his seat the moment the bell rang and quickly headed for the door. Carine was right behind him.

"So, Adrien," she said and he could've pretended not to hear her, he could have, really, but he didn't want to risk alienating her when they were probably going to have to work together. So he turned around and gave her a friendly, expectant smile. "You're new here, right? I mean, I've never seen you around here before and I know I would've noticed you."

"I'm new here," he confirmed.

"Welcome! You're in _série S,_ too, right?"

"I am."

"What class do you have next? I can help you find it."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded up schedule he'd tucked in there. He read the room number and professor off to her and she nodded though there was a hint of disappointment in her expression. "I don't have that one but I can still take you there."

"That'd be nice, if you don't mind waiting just a moment for—"

He knew she was there before she pounced. He'd always been keenly aware of her presence as Chat Noir and ever since learning her identity, that awareness had begun to leak over. Plagg _said_ it was just a coincidence that learning her identity lined up with that particular ability beginning to come through while he was out of the suit. He could've dodged her but that probably would've looked funny considering she was coming up in his blind spot so he decided to take it like a man and let his girlfriend glomp him.

He laughed as he felt her weight on his back and her tiny arms around him in a bear hug. That was a bit much even for her. "Hello to you, too," he snickered, lifting one arm so he could see her and she ducked underneath it.

Marinette beamed up at him. "So how was your first class?"

"Alright. I think it's going to be fun. _Maybe_ even a bit challenging."

"Only maybe?" She rolled her eyes then settled them on Carine who was now standing awkwardly in front of them. "Hey, Carine!"

"Marinette," she greeted with a bit less enthusiasm.

"You know each other?" Adrien asked.

Marinette nodded. "We had literature together last year."

"We're at the same desk. She offered to show me where my next class is."

"Oh, okay. Do you mind her showing you instead, then?" She wrinkled her nose adorably and he had to hold back a chuckle. "My class is at the opposite end of the building."

"Fine with me. Get to class," he ordered with a nudge. "Don't make a bad first impression by being late."

"Alright, I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

Adrien nodded, she leaned up to kiss his cheek, then left. He watched her go for a moment before turning his attention back to Corine. "Ready if you are."

Corine smiled. "Yeah, sure! This way."

* * *

Much like at his last two schools, the initial buzz of having a local celebrity died down quickly once they realized he wasn't a partier, bad boy, or available. Alya, Nino, and Marinette saw to that and with their help, he quickly found himself meshing with the rest of the student body, like he had at Francois-Dupont. Not for the first time, he thought of how he had sorely missed having them around last year. His first _lycée_ had been a wonderful institution from an academic standpoint but what was the point if he was going to be miserable?

He was happy. It occurred to him by the end of the first week and he couldn't help but smile at the realization. He was honestly, truly, happy. And it was thanks in no small part to his friends and his girlfriend. Just having them around, especially Marinette, was enough to help him keep his head up through his intense course load which was bad enough on its own, but when combined with his responsibilities as Chat Noir and the never ending duties of a model was absolutely nightmarish. And between the three of them, they knew enough people who had gone into _serié S_ that he had at least one friendly face in every class.

Adrien was quite sure this school year would be far better than the last.

* * *

They hadn't really discussed it yet but they knew that, one day, if they were to remain Guardians, they would likely be living in a foreign country where they couldn't depend on French to get them by. English was so widespread and unless something catastrophic happened, it might very well be to future languages what Latin had been to Europe.

English was required study for them, thankfully, and he wanted they both were as fluent as possible before they left school. So it was really a blessing that they had that class together. This way, if one of them was struggling, they would have each other and their kwami to help them.

Maybe he was jumping the gun. After all, they hadn't even decided what they were going to do once Papillon was…dealt with. Part of Adrien wanted to say to _hell_ with being a Guardian but a larger, logic-driven part of him knew that it would not be that simple. They had already signed the contracts, sealed the blood pacts, however you wanted to say it. So for now, he was going to go with the assumption that they would spend the rest of their lives like this, and that meant they needed to start preparing.

Right now, that meant mastering English and getting top marks in his schoolwork so he would have the foundations for keeping up with science as it inevitably progressed and evolved around them.

* * *

"I'm going to quit basketball," Adrien told Marinette one afternoon as they were doing homework in her room.

Marinette looked at him in surprise. "I thought you liked basketball."

"I do," he confirmed. "But at this point it's…just taking up time I really don't have. It's not like I don't get enough of a workout as Chat Noir already."

"And fencing."

"…I think I'm going to quit fencing, too."

"Adrien!" Marinette protested, dropping her pencil. He winced a bit at the confusion and worry in her voice. "Why? You _love_ fencing."

"I do," he agreed hastily. "But, again, it's taking up time I really don't have and it…I mean…"

Hearing the commotion, Tikki and Plagg floated out from the small nest Marinette had made them out of a hat in one of her drawers. He glanced at them briefly then took a deep breath.

"School is important to me. I want to focus on it as much as I can. I want to have time to do my homework, do my modeling gigs, be Chat Noir, and still hang out with you guys."

Marinette frowned. "So you're going to give up something you love?"

"Why don't you just give up modeling," Plagg suggested. "You hate it."

"I don't _hate_ it," Adrien corrected. "It's not horrible. I enjoy it sometimes."

"And despise it other times."

"…It's a job, Plagg. You know, for money?" Adrien folded his arms. "I'm not going to always be able to depend on my father's money to survive, especially if we're off somewhere pretending to be other people. We're going to need money in case we don't have jobs or can't get them."

"Adrien…" Marinette said softly.

"I checked not too long ago. If we live modestly, I've earned enough just from modeling for us to survive about a year on our own. That's not even counting what I'm due to inherit in a few years."

"Adrien, stop!" She reached for his hand and gripped it tightly. "What are you talking about? Where did this come from?"

Adrien took a deep breath. He was getting ahead of himself. "Sorry," he apologized. "Let me try again?" She nodded and he took another deep breath. "Okay. We both know that school is important. I'd like to go to university and I know you do, too. We need good marks. And on top of that, I want to make sure I have a solid foundation of knowledge so that I can keep up with science as it develops. We could live for a very long time, y'know. My schedule has always been crazy packed with all these extracurricular and adding Chat Noir on top of that just makes it insane. I think I'll be able to do better in school if I don't have as many…okay, well, I don't want to say _pointless_ , but…not relevant? Basketball and fencing don't really help me anymore. I don't _need_ them like I need time for homework."

"Alright, that makes sense. Modeling?"

Adrien sat up straighter and shoved his homework to the side. "We all know that one day we're going to stop aging, right?" He looked at their kwami for confirmation. Two tiny heads nodded. "When that happens we're not going to have a whole lot of time before we have to leave. No matter what we do, we're going to need money to survive and there's no guarantee that either of us will be able to simply get a job."

Marinette nodded slowly. "Okay. You're right. Keep going."

"I've been modeling since I was ten. Every single penny I've earned has gone into an account that I don't touch but own completely and is slowly gathering interest. I have enough right now that I think we could live off of it for about a year if we had to, more if we stretch it. As long as I keep doing modeling gigs then that's more money into my account. More for us."

By the time he finished, Marinette was no longer looking at him. He waited anxiously as she inhaled through her nose and held it for several long, seconds. She looked up as she exhaled and opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and then shut it. She did this several times before exhaling again.

"Bug?" he prompted softly.

"I wish you had told me about this sooner."

"I haven't started thinking about it until recently. Knowing who you are—I mean, now that I know Ladybug is _you_ and that we're spending our daily lives with each other—it's made things more…real."

Marinette cocked her head to the side. "I…know what you mean and before I say anything else, I think you've got the right idea. We should be preparing for the future, no matter what happens, or what we decide to do." She glanced at the kwami for a moment then back to him. "But I wish you'd told me sooner so I could've started thinking of ways to contribute, too."

"I'm in a better position than you to do this, though. I have a job that pays good and I don't have to worry about expenses like your family does."

"I can get a job, too."

Adrien made a face and she knew what he was going to say.

"And then probably lose it after three akuma attacks." She sighed, shaking her head. "But I don't want you doing this all on your own! We're in this together, remember?"

"You need to focus on school right now," he reminded her. "We've got _years_ to work on this, that's plenty of time for you to get a job and contribute to the funds if you really want to. I'm just saying for now, I'm going to keep modeling and earning money for us, and in order to do that and keep up with schoolwork and being Chat Noir, I'm going to be dropping basketball and fencing. Which brings us right back to the start."

Marinette, thankfully, seemed willing to let the subject of savings drop for the moment. "But you enjoy both of them."

"Not enough that I'm willing to go through the stress of keeping them." He smiled and patted her hand. "Don't worry, Buginette. If I really wanted to keep them up, I would find a way. …Now I just have to break the news to my father."

She wrinkled her nose. "Do you think he'll let you quit?"

"Well, it's not like he can _force_ me to play a sport I don't want. Besides, I'm pretty sure if I explained that it's to help me keep up with my studies then he won't have a problem with it. Uh…I hope."

* * *

To Adrien's great surprise, Gabriel had no problem with it at all. His father expressed concerns the same way Marinette had since he was under the impression that Adrien enjoyed these two extracurricular in particular, but in the end he accepted Adrien's decision and instructed Nathalie to see to the necessary phone calls.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

 **I would like to emphasis how unhelpful fencing really is in the long run for Adrien's combat skills. We see him wield his staff like rapier in the show a few times but anyone who's trained in bo-staff related arts can tell you that that's not...how...it works... Sure, fencing (and basketball) provided him strategy skills and helped him think on his feet, but for actual fighting techniques, yeah no. A staff and a rapier-type are two entirely different weapons. The karate he apparently took at one point was helpful as well but not enough.**

 **And, lol, considering that he-a magically enhanced fighter capable of inhuman feats-got his ass pwned by Gorilla speaks to his lack of fighting abilities against a trained opponent. Tbh, I think one of the only reasons they win in show is teamwork and their powers...and cos their opponents are not warriors themselves.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	44. Quarante Quatre

**lol all the people w/ fighting and fencing knowledge validating my comment in last chapter's author's note. Don't worry, cat boy will learn how to use his claws soon.**

 **Happy birthday Qookyquiche and Ferisae, birthday buddies x3 Have a happy chapter featuring excited Adrien.**

* * *

Marinette nearly threw a party the day she found out that it had been two weeks since there had been any notable mentions of them in Chloe's magazines. Just as Adrien had predicted, the local media had realized they were a vanilla couple and pretty much moved on. No doubt they'd come sniffing around again around the holidays or if she and Adrien were spotted at an event together but for now, they were free to continue on with their lives completely paparazzi free.

If one good thing had come from the last month and half, then it was that she had gained some perspective. She'd constantly had to look over her shoulder whenever they were in public. More than once they'd caught someone with a camera loitering outside the bakery, forcing one of her parents (usually Tom) to go deal with them. She knew what she'd gone through was nothing compared to what a movie star her age would but she felt like she could empathize with them now. And she understood why his father insisted Adrien have a bodyguard.

Hell, if she had to put up with the attention she got as Ladybug every single day of her life, she'd have probably gotten herself a bodyguard a long time ago, too.

* * *

Marinette had been thinking long and hard about what Adrien had said in regards to preparing for the future financially. True, getting a job would not be a good idea for her right now, but her only real source of income was the occasional commission work she did for friends and peers, all of which went into buying herself more fabric and supplies. She…supposed she could cut back on her spending habits for her hobby and start saving some of it…but the idea was very unappealing. Perhaps she could start advertising and get more commissions?

Tikki, too, had been giving it some thought, and ended up thinking of the best idea. "Jagged Stone!"

"Jagged Stone?" Marinette repeated.

Tikki nodded eagerly. "Remember the album cover you designed? Didn't you get a pretty big salary for that? Plus royalties?"

Of course she remembered, but the money she was earning from that was going into a special savings account that her parents had set up to fund her university studies. She couldn't just _not_ use it when the time came and if she tried to do anything with it, they would inevitably find out and that would not end well.

"I know, I know," Tikki assured her, "though I don't know how much money is in there, there's a chance you'll have some left over by the time school is finished. Buuuut," she drawled, "if you were to design _another_ album cover for him…you definitely will."

Marinette's eyes widened and her mind took off at the speed of light. Tikki reclined back in the air, folding her arms behind her head with a satisfied grin on her face. "It's been a while since his last album," the little god went on. "Don't you think it's about time he released a new one?"

" _Marinette! Right_ _ **on!**_ _You have the best luck or the best timing in the world!"_

" _Hahah, well, I mean, I've been told I'm pretty lucky before."_

" _Believe it, kid, because my agent and I were just talking about you."_

" _O-oh. Really?"_

* * *

The kwami had promised their hosts some time ago that the bond between them would eventually mature to the point that they would be able to sense when the other was near. The awareness had begun to develop right around the time that they learned each other's identities and the timing was completely coincidental according to the kwami. In the span of nearly two months, Marinette had grown accustomed to always being aware of Adrien on some level since they lived so close and went to school together, and a little dependent on it.

The constant awareness of him had become a source of comfort for her. She _liked_ knowing that he was near, that she would know if something was wrong, and that she could get to him quickly if she wanted. The few times he had gone too far for her to sense him, she had spent the hours agitated and unable to rest even though logically she knew he was fine and simply at a photoshoot. He, too, had been unable to settle and the shoot hadn't gone well.

Separation anxiety was a normal part of cognitive development in human children and, apparently, for budding Guardians as well. Tikki reassured them that they would get used to it in due time. After all, they'd lived most their lives that way.

Marinette had also begun learning how to recognize when he was drawing nearer to her. It was like a thought in the back of her mind slowly moving to the forefront, a small fairy light growing to the size and brightness of a lamp in her room. It could be missed if she wasn't paying attention.

So focused on her work, Marinette nearly _did_ miss it. In fact, he was in her living room before she even noticed him. She'd asked him to come over once he was finished with his photoshoot that day so they could discuss some things.

The door to her room swung open and Adrien's head appeared just in time for Marinette to close out of the music player on her computer. She'd been given a copy of two songs on the upcoming album for inspiration on the condition that she not let anyone else hear them, including family and friends. (The contract said nothing about gods, though, so she figured Tikki got a pass.) She also switched her tablet screen off, no reason to spoil the surprise early.

"Hey, Maribug," he greeted cheerfully.

The newest edition to Adrien's repertoire of nicknames for her, 'Maribug' was hitting the nail right on the head. She'd figured out some time ago that Chat Noir used nicknames as a sign of affection, a habit she'd glimpsed in Adrien on rare occasions. Now that he knew who she was, Adrien was about as shy as using her nicknames as Chat Noir had been. She had no problem with it, really, so long as he saved the really incriminating noes like 'my lady' for when it was only them. He'd tried calling her Princess once but Marinette had made a face at it and he'd seemingly shelved it. Maribug had been a slip of the tongue but it had stuck.

"Minou," she greeted. If nicknames were gonna be their thing, then she was going to need to come up with better ones for him than what she was already working with. Most of them were incriminating and 'Handsome Boy' was just not gonna cut it.

"What were you listening to just now?" he asked as he entered the room. The door stayed open at her parents' request, not that it really mattered since they were both down in the bakery at this time of day.

Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket and Tikki zipped into the air to greet him.

"Oh…just something," she replied lightly.

"Sounded like Jagged Stone."

Marinette's eyes flicked skywards and she tried to look as innocent as possible. Adrien didn't buy it for a second. "Maaaaariiiiiiiii," he sing-songed, creeping closer. "Was that Jagged Stone?"

"Maaaaaaybe."

Adrien was right in front of her now. Her eyes flicked to his and then away again and she saw him grin. "What are you working on here?" He tapped the tablet screen.

"Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

Picking the tablet up, she walked over to her chaise and sat down against the back of it and crossed her legs to give Adrien room to sit in front of her. He leaned back on his hands and gave her an eager look.

"So, I've been thinking a lot about what you said the other day, about the future and money," she began and the eagerness faded from his expression, replaced by wariness and confusion. "I have a source of income right now: my commissions. I don't have very many, though, and I usually use that money to buy supplies anyway. I can't really take away from that and even if I did, it would only be a few euros from each job, not much to make a difference."

"I already told you, I can do this for us," Adrien started but Marinette held up her hand.

"Let me finish."

He sighed, eyes flicking skyward, but nodded.

"Tikki mentioned Jagged Stone as an idea. I don't know if I ever told you this, but I got paid pretty good for designing the cover."

Adrien smiled. "I remember wondering about that. You did awesome, you deserved to be paid for it."

"Yeah, I was, and I get royalties!" she went on excitedly. "It's not much but a small cut of every album sold goes to me. Mama and Papa played my lawyers for that so I don't remember what percentage exactly…oh, but it all goes into a special bank account they set up to receive it."

"And you want to use this money to fund us?" he guessed, looking less than thrilled at the idea.

She shook her head. "Even if I really wanted to, I couldn't. The plan is for me to use the money to fund my university studies."

"Really?"

"If I study in Paris the costs won't be so bad but I'll still have to get my own materials. And any money leftover can help me get a start, either moving out on my own or starting my own business." Her expression fell. "I…well, I was hoping to work in the industry but with our lives shaping up the way they are, I doubt that's going to work."

"Mari…" he said gently and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"No, no…I'm coming to terms with it, I have been for a while. Hey, just because I can't work in the industry like your dad does doesn't mean I still can't design and make clothes. I just can't become famous."

His hand tightened. "You'd deserve it."

Marinette smiled. "Thanks, Adrien." Adrien eyed her for a moment longer then withdrew his hand. "So, like I was saying, the money I got from that cover is completely off limits. But Tikki was thinking…it's been a little while since then…isn't it about time Jagged Stone was putting out a new album?"

Adrien's eyes went as round as saucers. He looked at her computer where she had been playing music before he'd come in then back at her and she pressed her lips together to contain a giggle as he put two and two together. " _No,_ " he whispered then looked at her again. "No!" he repeated and his mouth stretched into a broad grin. "No _way!_ You didn't! You _aren't!_ "

Marinette clamped her tongue between her teeth and turned her tablet screen back on, holding it up for him to see the design she was working on.

"OHMYGOD!" Adrien yelled, lunging at her, and wrapped her in a tight hug. She shrieked and nearly dropped her tablet. He drew back quickly, hands on her shoulders, grinning ear to ear. "How did you even manage that!?"

"I have his agent's phone number," she laughed. "I just decided to call the other day and he told me that he'd been planning on getting ahold of _me_ because he wanted me to design the new cover!"

"That's incredible!" He looked down at the tablet and she held it up. Accepting it carefully, his eyes roved around the screen, taking in every little detail.

"It isn't finished yet," she explained, "and I have a few design ideas I want to draw out before submitting them to him—"

"This is amazing," he blurted, awed. "You're _amazing_! And that music you were listening to—"

"From the new album for inspiration. But I signed an agreement, I'm not allowed to let anyone listen," she warned him before he could ask.

Adrien pouted. "Did Tikki get to listen?"

"Yep!" Tikki piped up from across the room. Adrien's pout worsened.

Marinette pushed lightly against his nose with her finger. " _Tikki_ is a god. The contract said nothing about gods."

"I'm a demi-god," he pointed out, going cross-eyed for a moment, then he mock-bit at her finger.

"You're a Guardian."

"Same difference, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, Adrien. Come on, you know how NDA's work, don't you?"

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Buuut, I guess I could call and see if, maybe, Ladybug and Chat Noir could listen?" she grinned mischievously.

Adrien blinked once then looked around the room. "Where's your phone?"

She laughed and shook her head, taking the tablet back. "Later, chaton. Later. Let me finish explaining first!" Adrien sat back obediently but his eyes and expression were alight with joy. "So, I'm getting paid about the same as last time for the design, as well as royalties again. By the time we're ready to move on whatever, I should have a lot of money built up for us. Maybe not as much as you've made but it's better than nothing, right?"

"A lot better," he agreed. "You're a genius."

"It was Tikki's idea."

"Yeah but you're the one who's made it work. This is just awesome."

* * *

" _Heeyy! How's my favorite designer doing? The cover coming along good?"_

" _Yeah, I think so! I've got a couple of ideas and I'm nearly done with the first. I'll send you them all as soon as I'm done."_

" _Sounds good. So what's up?"_

" _Well, I uh…I have a question. I know that contract I signed says I'm not allowed to let anyone else hear the songs but, um, do you think we can make an exception?"_

" _An exception."_

" _Yeah, you see, I might have told two of my friends what I'm doing and they're huge fans of yours and they would really love to listen."_

"… _Marinette…"_

" _I think you know them, too! Their names are Ladybug and Chat Noir."_

…

" _GET ME THEIR AUTOGRAPHS AND YOU'VE GOT A DEAL. AND AN EXCEPTION."_

* * *

 **excited Adrien being adorable and supportive of his girlfriend :') These kids have had a well-deserved break, wouldn't you agree?**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	45. Quarante Cinq

**oops.  
**

* * *

On October 29nd, Ladybug fell from grace. Not entirely and not to everyone, she was still a hero in the minds of many Parisians, but it was on this day that she was lowered from her pedestal as the ultimate savior. For years, people had hailed her as something near a deity—kind and brave but untouchable, incorruptible (unlike her shadowy partner who had been witnessed trading blows with her on the side of the enemy more than once). Incapable of doing wrong—and even if she did what would it matter because she would fix everything in the end?

If asked his thoughts on that day, Chat Noir would tell you that it should have been raining. Or at least overcast.

October 29th was a warm Sunday, probably one of the last of the year. They were going to meet for lunch that day. Adrien was dutifully compiling a bouquet for her as a treat on top of the other food he was bringing. In another market, Marinette was haggling for a good price on some shrimp just for him.

Adrien became aware of the impending akuma attack while he was in line with his purchase and the flowers hit the pavement. His destruction sense was getting sharper and he could tell, somehow, that this was going to be a bad one. He texted her a quick warning then it was a mad rush to safely stow their picnic supplies and hurry to the scene.

They arrived separately but at about the same time and realized simultaneously that they were in a world of trouble. The akuma broke everything it touched. Cars and busses were dismantled, light poles bent and bulbs burst. The streets were cracked and upheaved, trapping cars and making escape difficult for most. God, no wonder the sense of doom had been so powerful. Chat Noir immediately went on the offense while Ladybug swung as many people as she could to safety, throwing up shields in between the akuma and trapped civilians, but eventually she was called into the fray by a single yowl from her partner that she knew to be his signal for help.

The akuma was eventually defeated, the butterfly purified, the man returned to his normal self, and Ladybug threw the Lucky Charm into the air to do its work. The victim was whisked away by authorities to keep him from being hounded by media and Chat and Ladybug retreated the rooftops to discuss their lunch plans.

A screech drew their attention down to the street below. There was a small crowd gathered amongst the stationary cars and growing fast. Both heroes immediately descended to investigate. The screaming continued as they bounded across the rooftops of cars to reach the scene.

"What's wrong?" Chat Noir demanded.

"What's going on?" Ladybug echoed.

"Ladybug! Ladybug!" a woman wailed from the center of the mass. "Help! Please help!"

"Move!" voices commanded, overlapping each other. "Get back! Let her through!"

As the crowd parted, both heroes could see the cause of the fuss: a middle-aged woman kneeling on the street next to an open car, crying her heart out, and cradling a body. It was…broken. There was no other way to describe it. Just _broken_. The bones were contorted or didn't seem to be there at all, its face was twisted unrecognizably, and its clothes were in tatters. It almost didn't look human.

Ladybug gasped in horror and wobbled until Chat steadied her, his own face ashen.

The woman looked beseechingly up at the heroes, eyes wide and wild and filled with tears. "Help him!" she begged. "He's my son, please, help him."

The akuma had touched him. There was no other explanation for such disfigurement. From the state he was in, he must have died almost instantly…or at least before she had been able to fix everything.

Ladybug could do nothing for him. She knew it. Chat knew it. And yet she could not stop herself from leaping down to kneel before the woman.

"Do your thing, please," she sobbed. "T-the healing…the magic fix…please do it."

Ladybug shook her head slowly and placed her hand on the woman's own. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I am sorry but I can't."

"You always do!"

"I already did."

"D-do it again!" she yelled as if it were the most obvious solution in the world. Ladybug floundered on how to explain without revealing the concept of _power limits_ and _transformations_.

Ladybug's Miraculous beeped. Two spots left.

"I can't," Ladybug explained quietly. "I don't have enough magic left to do it again so soon."

"HELP HIM!" the woman screamed, jerking her arm away from Ladybug's touch and she cradled her son's face. "You c-c-can fi-fix everythi—fix him! You have t-t-to, h-a-ave to—" Her words dissolved into unintelligible sobs.

And suddenly the stares of the crowd felt judgmental, accusing. She had been too late, she had been to slow, and now she was doing nothing to save this life.

"I…" Ladybug trailed off and swallowed. "This isn't something I can fix."

"THEN WHAT GOOD ARE YOU?!"

Ladybug recoiled away from the hateful scream so sharply that she nearly toppled over but Chat was there. Chat had been there for some time and she hadn't realized. He pulled her to her feet, wrapped an arm around her waist, and used his baton to launch them away from the people. When they were out of sight, he slung Ladybug onto his back and she shifted into a comfortable piggyback position without protest, and then ran. The woman's screams followed them.

* * *

On October 29th, the world learned that Ladybug could not bring the dead back to life.

It was not her fault, Chat Noir insisted.

They had no business being angry at her for not being able to bring back the dead, Plagg scoffed.

She was Creation, not Life, and though they went hand in hand, they were not the same, Tikki assured her. Life was not hers to give, that power belonged to the kwami Wayzz and him alone.

* * *

Chat Noir spent the end of October and most of November angry. No, furious. Furrious, he would say, if he was in the mood to be funny. (He wasn't.)

Anne's story quickly became headline news, even outside Paris. They were calling it all sorts of things but some people were under the impression that Ladybug was somehow at fault. As if being less than a god was some sort of failure on her part. It seemed like everyone wanted to blame her in some way for the outcome of that fight. She took too long getting there, she took too long to defeat the akuma. Chat Noir came under fire, too, but not nearly as heavily since people didn't admire him as much as they did her.

Akuma attacks had never claimed any lives. With the scale of destruction, people had always assumed that Ladybug brought back any lives that were lost. Now someone was dead and it was so gruesome that the few pictures that had been taken of the body (Daniel, Chat would learn, twenty-two years old and in his last year of university) hadn't been aired on any official news channel. Or appeared on the Ladyblog. But they were there, easily found with a simple internet search.

People were in shock.

Those who sympathized with Anne became angry. They wanted someone to blame. They couldn't blame the akuma victim because it was a long-established fact that they were not responsible for their actions, blaming Papillon wasn't good enough, and Chat was too easy. So, they went after Ladybug. Ladybug, who was supposed to be perfect. Ladybug, who could do no wrong. Ladybug, who was supposed to make everything better but had not been able to.

Marinette was taking the whole debacle very hard. She had never been under any delusions of perfection, well aware of her own flaws and limitations. She had fought, shedding blood, sweat, and tears for her duty and this city, only to have them turn on her now that she could not do this one thing. A thing that, in Adrien's mind, was completely unrealistic.

It wasn't the entire city. There were plenty of people within Paris and many more outside of it that did not fault her for not being able to bring a dead man back to life. In fact, if Adrien had to guess, by the time a week had passed, he'd say over half of the population remained nothing but supportive of her. But those who were not were speaking the loudest in her ears. He did everything in his power to shield her from the abuse and counter every harsh word with a kind one. He held her, kissed her, gave her pep talks, and anything else he could think of when he could see it getting to her.

There was talk of subjecting them to some manner of government regulation and Adrien couldn't help but laugh scathingly when he heard about it. As _if_. Plagg agreed. Gods and their Guardians had never bowed to ordinary humans and they weren't about to start now.

* * *

Media outlets began noticing a trend the week after Daniel died. Whenever any official media outlet in the city released something that was directly or indirectly attacking Ladybug, Chat Noir would be spotted lurking nearby not long after. Usually on a rooftop across from the company building, sometimes directly across from the main entrance. When it came to news stations, he could often be seen from the windows in the newsroom. He never approached anyone, only lurked, and stared. It was simultaneously the most harmless and most threatening thing that many on the receiving end had ever experienced.

* * *

Ladybug shied away from the spotlight in the weeks that followed and was verbally abused for it. No one expected Chat Noir to step into the spotlight in her place. Whenever cameras or reporters would approach them after a fight, Chat Noir would angle his body so that he was between Ladybug and the camera and would either scowl or give them a look that wasn't quite hostile but very much a warning to stay back.

Except for one time.

Chat was late to the party. Super late. So late that the light of her restorative magic tickled his cheeks as it danced past him on its way to do its work. He could have turned and left but he wanted to apologize to Ladybug for his tardiness and at least let her know that he _had_ come. Before he could leap down to the street where she was, a lone reporter and cameraman approached, no doubt intending on approaching Ladybug while her shadowy shield wasn't there to block them. Ladybug shied away from the oncoming camera and was quickly overwhelmed by the microphone and the demanding questions.

One look at her wide-eyed, panicked face and Chat Noir was leaping to the rescue. He landed between them, accidentally knocking the reporter's microphone to the ground. The reporter screamed and the cameraman jumped. Ears lying flat against his head, he exhaled lowly and it sounded like a hiss.

"Chat—!" Ladybug gasped. Her Miraculous beeped.

"Go," he ordered without looking away from the reporter. "I'll deal with this."

Ladybug yo-yoed away. The reporter seemed terrified of what 'dealing with this' could possibly entail and both she and her cameraman began steadily backing away. Fully aware that he could be on live TV, Chat Noir did not move towards them. He simply glowered. The duo seemed torn between fleeing and holding their ground. Chat was between them and the microphone so the reporter couldn't very well question him. He wasn't willing to budge until he was sure Ladybug had had enough time to get away and transform back. They were at a stale mate.

The reporter's eyes flicked down to her abandoned microphone once and he huffed.

Chat crouched down without taking his eyes off her and picked up the offending object. He brought it to his mouth. "How dare you _?_ " he demanded harshly, enunciating every word clearly so even if they did not use the audio, they could not use the footage without people being able to read his lips.

 _How dare you?_

He wasn't just speaking to that woman. He was speaking to everyone, the whole city. Anyone who had dared to be angry at her for being unable to wake the dead. Anyone who thought she was anything less than the best hero she could be.

 _How dare you?_

* * *

 **I say oops except I'm not sorry.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	46. Quarante Six

For months, Marinette had been wary of crossing the invisible line she and Adrien had set in their relationship and he had never once asked to cross it. Yes, they were dating, yes they were in love, and yes they had fallen asleep together before but never in her bed. Neither of them ever brought it up. It wasn't a problem, either, and they were happy with their relationship.

But the stress that had been building from the past few weeks had finally come to a head and try as she might, Marinette couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in bed for what felt like hours. She tried playing music, she tried drinking tea, Tikki even tried singing to her, but every time she felt like she could finally drift off, a thought or memory yanked her back from the precipice once more.

Around midnight, she finally gave up and reached for her phone. Adrien answered on the fifth ring, wide awake and worried. She never called late. Feeling very subconscious, she quietly asked if he could come over. Five minutes later, he was knocking on her skylight. She sat up to unlock it and Chat Noir eased himself down onto her bed. His transformation slid away in a rush of green power, leaving a sleep-mussed Adrien kneeling in front of her. He wore a gray t-shirt and a pair of red, black paw-printed pajama bottoms that Marinette couldn't resist commenting on.

Plagg yawned loudly. "I was asleep, y'know," he complained. "What's so important it couldn't wait until _morning_?"

Tikki sighed and flew up from Marinette's pillow. She grabbed Plagg's paw, muttering something in a language Marinette didn't know, and pulled him down from the loft. Marinette saw them heading towards the nest in one of her drawers and sent silent thanks in her kwami's direction.

"What's wrong?" Adrien repeated, gentler this time.

"Can you stay with me tonight?" she asked.

Adrien raised his eyebrows and looked her up and down. He swallowed, licking his lips, but didn't answer for several, extremely long seconds. Was he going to say no? Would he really _leave_?

"As long as you don't hog all the covers."

Marinette smiled as she exhaled in relief. He cupped the side of her face in his hand and gave her a sad but knowing smile. His thumb brushed the space beneath her eye and she nuzzled his palm then lifted the covers for him. Adrien carefully eased himself underneath them then wriggled down so he was fully submerged. While he was getting comfortable, Marinette set an alarm on her phone for 6am. Her parents didn't usually come in to check on her until a little later since they were busy in the bakery and she wanted to make sure he had ample time to get away. When she was done, she set her phone aside and settled back down.

They lay on their sides facing each other. Marinette chewed on the inside of her lip in indecision before deciding 'fuck it' and scooted closer, pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Adrien made a low sound in his chest then put his arm around her to pull her fully to him. There were a few awkward moments as they adjusted, knees knocking and legs brushing as they worked themselves into a comfortable position. Adrien tucked his arm beneath her pillow so she wouldn't have to lay her head on something uncomfortable.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"Of course, my lady," he murmured into the top of her head.

* * *

They woke up the next morning to the insistent chirping of her alarm, tangled up in each other, and almost too warm for comfort. Marinette shut the alarm off but Adrien didn't immediately leave, even when Tikki and Plagg flew up to the loft. He took his time getting up, pressing gentle kisses around her face as he slowly extracted himself from their cocoon of warmth. Marinette felt bad about having to send him out into the cold, even in their temperature-regulated suits, when she already felt cold just from his absence.

"I'll see you in a few hours," he promised, giving her one final kiss, before uttering his transformation phrase and departing the way he'd come.

* * *

Though a good portion of the city were being sensible about what had happened, there were those that had begun to call the heroes' effectiveness into question again. After Volpina's reign of terror and their dismal response time, along with what some called "an act of vigilantism" by adamantly protecting her identity, and now this, people were wondering if Ladybug and Chat Noir should be allowed to continue unchecked and unpoliced.

" _After all, there are two people under those masks, no?"_ said a talk show host. _"They speak Parisian French, right? We've all heard them. They're obviously local, possibly born and raised here. They may have supernatural abilities but they are still French citizens. Why should they be allowed to continue acting outside the law?"_

' _It is an established fact that akuma victims are innocent. Combined with their crazy powers, that leaves ordinary police and law enforcement unequipped to adequately handle them,'_ a journalist wrote. ' _We_ _need_ _Ladybug and Chat Noir to deal with the akumas. However, that doesn't mean they have to be allowed to do whatever they want independent of authority.'_

As November turned into December, akuma attacks slowed and public outcry soared. Marinette had little doubt that Papillon was waiting to see how events would unfold. Sure, the man was hell bent on vengeance but even he had to realize that recent events could turn the odds in his favor. Both Tikki and Plagg agreed that this was very likely. He was Order, after all. Corrupted beyond repair but still, at his core, Order incarnate. With the status quo up in the air, it would serve his interests to stand back and let things unfold before either returning to normal or giving things the final push they needed to establish a new order that would suit his needs.

Neither Guardian was thrilled about this possibility. They had to do something. The question was what?

" _Everyone keeps saying that something needs to be done about Ladybug and Chat Noir,"_ Alya said on a video she posted on her blog. _"They need to be monitored, policed. There needs to be someone they must answer to. Yet no one seems to be coming up with any real solutions…or considered that there may not_ _ **be**_ _a solution. Not the kind of solution people want. In our country, in Europe itself, everyone must answer to someone, a superior or the people themselves, because that's how our ancestors thought was the best way to prevent tyranny. People see Ladybug and Chat Noir as a risk because they don't have anyone to answer to except themselves and they don't like that two people with such power cannot be controlled._

" _But we have no authority over them. They stay, they fight Papillon and his akuma, because they_ _ **choose**_ _to. Everything they've done for us has been of their own free will. They don't get paid, they don't get taken care of, or have anyone there to help them if they're hurt after a fight. Maybe they're not being quick or efficient enough but who are we to judge them? None of us know what it's like to be them or what it's_ _ **really**_ _like to fight akuma…and I don't see anyone stepping up to try. We owe them our lives, our city, and all the ex-akuma out there owe them their sanity and freedom._

" _We cannot force them to do anything they don't want to do. We_ _ **need**_ _them but if we push them away, if we try to contain them, what are they going to do?_

" _I say leave them alone. Before they leave us."_

* * *

"What if we did leave?" Adrien growled, pacing around his room in agitation. "What if we just packed our bags and went to…to…I don't know. Belgium! They speak French."

"What good would that do?" Marinette, sitting backwards on his desk chair, asked tersely. She was just as piqued about this as he was but there was no reason to do something stupid. "Never mind the fact that we would be screwing our regular selves over, Papillon would just follow us, and we'd have to fight him on unfamiliar territory."

Adrien growled again wordlessly and kept pacing. "What if we just threatened to leave but didn't actually?" he suggested a moment later. "Papillon might leave."

"Or he might not. Who knows how long an akuma could be rampaging until he finally realizes we honestly aren't going to come out and fight him and what will have happened to the city in the mean time?" Marinette shook her head. "Not to mention the fact that we wouldn't be able to show ourselves publicly or he'd just come right back."

Adrien shrugged. "I don't mind shelving Chat Noir for a little while if that's what it takes. I'm sick of this."

"So am I, but—"

Tikki cleared her throat loudly. "I think you're both forgetting something important."

Marinette swiveled the chair around. Adrien stopped pacing. Plagg floated out of the trash can with a piece of camembert in his paws.

The god of Creation sat primly on top of the large, red joystick on one of Adrien's arcade games, arms folded. She looked between them both for a moment.

"You're Guardians. Your job is to defeat Papillon. You cannot let him leave and if he does, you are bound to follow him until he is defeated." Tikki unfolded her arms and flew into the air. "And Marinette is right, you cannot leave. He will only follow and history will repeat itself. Plagg and I have been running from him for over a hundred years with your predecessors. You do _not_ want to live their lives. You have an advantage here and now that they never did…an advantage that was paid for in blood."

Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other. She had an idea of what Tikki meant and she lowered her gaze.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Phillip killed himself," Plagg announced quietly.

Adrien stared at his kwami for a moment. "You told me Papillon killed them both."

He shrugged. "He as good as did."

"Phillip was tired," Tikki repeated the words she used when she'd told Marinette about the fate of their predecessors. "Tired of running and fighting. Ariadne hadn't been his first Ladybug and he…he didn't want to bring a child into his mess, train them, and risk watching and feeling them die, too. You don't understand what it's like to feel your partner die and he'd felt it twice. I could've stopped him but—"

"Why didn't you?" Adrien demanded.

"His logic was sound."

Marinette was taken aback. Tikki hadn't told her this before. "What do you _mean_?"

"Phillip thought that maybe Papillon's vengeance would die with them," Plagg explained. "He hoped that whoever we chose would be able to start anew without inheriting their burdens. And if not then at least you two would have something to fight for. A reason not to run."

The Guardians were silent, contemplating Black Cat's dying wishes. Then, without warning, Adrien rounded on Plagg. "Why did you lie to me about Phillip?"

Plagg looked down at the cheese in his paws. "I didn't lie to you. Papillon killed him just as sure as he killed Mariquita, he just didn't deliver the final blow."

"Plagg!"

"I didn't want you to judge him, okay?" the kwami shouted, startling them all. The cheese fell the floor with a wet _thlop_ and Plagg clenched his paws into little fists. "Human kind has always looked down on those who take their own lives! He went through more than you know and I didn't want you judging him for his choice to die when it was the bravest thing he ever did!"

"Plagg," Tikki murmured.

Plagg deflated, tail drooping. "I didn't want him to die but I—I…. We were in an endless loop with no way out except the one he was offering us."

The dark kwami didn't seem willing to go on, so Tikki continued for him. "We let him go and as much as it hurts us both to have lost him and Mariquita, and on the same day no less, we do not regret honoring his wishes. We came here, a large and established city with plenty of people for you to blend with and plenty of places for you to hide. We gave you the best chances we could in light of the situation and even though Phillip's hopes did not come true, his sacrifice wasn't for nothing."

Marinette pressed her lips together and looked down. Unless they left Paris or did anything other than finish the fight here in this city. Then it would be.

"I—I'm not judging him," Adrien reassured him softly after a moment. He walked towards his kwami, cupped his hands underneath him, and brought him to his cheek for a gentle nuzzle. "You're right. I don't understand but it…was brave of him."

"We're not leaving," Marinette declared. "People can go shove it. We're staying and we're going to finish this. One way or another."

* * *

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	47. Quarante Sept

**wait for it...**

* * *

At the four-week mark for no akuma attacks, Ladybug and Chat Noir were finally allowing themselves to be concerned. Tikki and Plagg insisted that Nurru was still in the city, though they could still not pinpoint his whereabouts. Which meant Papillon was only biding his time and could strike _any time now._ He may be a madman but he was predictable in his ruthlessness and behavior. He would create an akuma again and soon…it was just a matter of where and when.

They needed to be seen responding to the situation quickly and efficiently if they wanted to silence some of the questions about their effectiveness. There had been no official action taken against them thus far but if their next battle was not dealt with in a timely manner, they predicted that would soon change. Chat was almost certain the attack would come during the day, probably around lunch time or evening rush hour, peak points of the day where stress could be high and there would be plenty of potential victims, both for him and his akuma. As such, he spent many of his waking hours on high alert, ready for any hint of destruction or devastation. It was exhausting for him and, honestly, the next attack could not come soon enough.

Nevertheless, they both agreed it was important to continue their regular patrols as Paris was used to seeing its heroes overhead at night. Their absence might indicate something was wrong and put people even more on edge than they were. After all, Paris was used to its supervillains by now, too.

Fortunately for the Guardians, patrol was a good way to work off stress and tension.

* * *

Ladybug had been feeling strange lately. It was like something was building inside of her and just waiting to be released. Difficult to describe but not uncomfortable. Tikki assured her it was fine and that it "happened sometimes" but there was a strangle twinkle in her eye as she said it. Tonight, she could feel _it_ throughout her body like the best adrenaline rush she'd ever had, triggering an intense desire to move. To run. To _fly._ Akuma, criminals, naysayers, and all the rest be damned.

Her mood was infectious and Chat Noir, mentally exhausted from straining his sixth sense so hard for days, couldn't help but be caught up in it.

Their feet barely touched the surface of the rooftops as they ran, legs pumping and lungs burning from the exertion and cold December air. Wind bit at their cheeks and whipped through their hair but all it did was make them feel more powerful and _alive_. Let Papillon send his akuma, let people try to cage and manipulate them. Nothing, not even nature itself, could touch them up here. They were the champions of gods and this was their element. They were _invincible_.

When Ladybug began to scale the Eiffel Tower, Chat was right behind her. Instead of using their weapons to vault them to the top, they jumped, climbed, and ran up and along the beams. It became a race to see who could reach the summit first. Ladybug was as nimble as a gymnast but Chat jumped like his namesake. There was none of their usual trickery and playfulness. Any onlooker would've thought they were pursuing an akuma if they couldn't see their expressions of excitement.

Ladybug reached the very top, far higher than they usually went, by less than two seconds, just enough to declare herself the winner with a loud and hearty, "HAH!"

Hearts pounding in their heaving chests, the two teenagers took a moment to catch their breath after an hour of nonstop movement. She should've felt tired, needed at least a little break after that. Chat was leaning on the central beam for support but Ladybug wasn't done. She still had all this _energy_ inside of her that needed an outlet. Were they not in such a precarious location, she probably would've kissed him. She usually did after a long or exciting run, so wound up on adrenaline with no better way to let it out than to kiss her boyfriend senseless.

But tonight, even if it were an option, she knew it wouldn't be enough. She needed more.

 _Jump,_ Tikki whispered in her mind. Ladybug was startled by the sudden input from her kwami even more than by her suggestion.

Jump?

Ladybug looked down at the ground, oh so far away and contemplated the space between it and her.

 _Jump!_ Tikki repeated more insistently.

In her mind's eye, she saw the twinkle in Tikki's eye as she told her not to worry about the energy building within her.

A grin slowly spread across her face and she looked over her at Chat Noir. Chest heaving, she quirked her brow and panted, "Race you to the bottom."

And then she jumped.

When Marinette was thirteen, she was finally tall enough to ride the big rollercoasters at her favorite amusement park. She'd waited in line for half an hour with her parents before boarding alone (her mother didn't like them and her father would not fit in the bars). She'd been torn between nerves and excitement as the cars had climbed the first hill with only a stranger in the seat next to her for support. It peaked and for a moment she felt as if she could see the whole world before her…and then it plummeted and a moment of pure, animal terror overtook her before she was lost in the unadulterated _thrill_ of the fall. The lightness in her body, the excitement of the unknown, the wind whipping past, and the roar of the coaster over the screams of its passengers.

This was not like that.

The lightness in her body increased tenfold despite gravity's pull and this time there was no bar to hold her in her seat. The wind was louder, far louder, and the only scream was a shout of her name from her partner's mouth as she did something no sane person would ever do. Arms spread wide, heart galloping in her chest, Ladybug's lips twitched upwards as the ground rushed up to meet her. She would get her yo-yo in a second…just…a few more moments….

For a single, painful yet glorious instant, the energy burned within her entire body, as hot as her papa's ovens, and she thought she might scream. Her Miraculous buzzed with power and the voices of all the Ladybugs before cried out. Then in an instant the heat condensed to a single point on her back and exploded.

From there she could not describe the feeling of what happened. Pink light flashed so bright it that she thought it was lightning and suddenly she was aware. There was something new, muscles were twitching, new nerves were buzzing, four had become six and she could feel it all.

 _FLY!_ Tikki cried.

There was no way for her to know what she did but the knowledge was there and with it, for the first time in her life, Marinette _flew._

* * *

Chat Noir felt at least four of his lives leave his body in quick succession as he watched his lady take a swan dive off the top of the Eiffel Tower and plummet several hundred meters. Her name ripped from him in a terrified cry that didn't seem to faze her. There was nothing he could do, no way to reach her in time, he would have to trust that she would stop herself. But…she wasn't…doing…anything! Just falling and falling in—

Light exploded from her, so bright that he brought his hand up to shield his eyes. When he lowered his hand a moment later, the light had gone and Ladybug—Ladybug was…

Ladybug was _flying_.

* * *

Light pink and translucent, Ladybug could only glimpse the new protrusions over her shoulder as they fluttered too fast for her to examine, yet there was no mistaking what they were.

Wings! She had wings! Actual wings!

She was flying! She didn't know how to fly and yet somehow knew exactly what to do, how to shift herself in just the right way to turn. She was aware on some level of the conscious effort it took for her to keep her wings moving but she didn't have to think about it too much, like blinking or breathing. Almost as if the suit was doing most of the work.

Wings! Was this a new power? Why now? Had this been what her body had been building up to for days? Were they a part of her or the suit? Would she always have them now or would she have to create them each time? How long could she fly for? She could hear Tikki laughing away inside her mind, enjoying every single moment of Ladybug's wonder and amazement.

She flipped and turned, zigzagging through the air while she laughed with glee. She was _flying_ and it was as effortless as walking! This was so much better than anything she had felt before. More than running across the rooftops, more than swinging (because she could never call it flying again) through the city on her yo-yo, more than kissing Adrien, dancing, or standing at the highest point in the city and gazing down at the world below.

" _LADYBUG!"_

She came to a sudden stop mid-air, realizing she had crossed the Seine and left Chat Noir behind on the top of the tower.

Without a second thought, Ladybug arced her body and made a beeline for the top of the tower. It took far less time to get there than she'd expected and it occurred to her that she had no idea how fast she could go.

Chat Noir had descended to a more stable platform by the time she returned and looking quite harried. Then completely in awe as he took in the sight of her fluttering towards him. She righted herself in the air, hovering awkwardly for a few moments, before slowing the speed of her wings so she would sink to the ground. Chat reached for her hands and pulled her down the rest of the way. Her wings continued to flutter for a few seconds before they came to a stop.

"Hi," she said, breathless.

Chat put his hands on her shoulders and shook his head. "You scared me to death. I think I lost five of my lives just now. Don't _do_ something like that!"

Ladybug grinned sheepishly. "Um…Tikki told me to?"

He shook his head again and turned his attention to the wings behind her. Ladybug looked over her shoulder at the newest additions to her suit (body?). He reached over her shoulder, stepping around behind her, and she felt his fingers hovering just over the point just between her shoulders where the wings were attached. They quivered nervously and fluttered when his fingers made contact. She jumped in surprise, realizing she could feel his fingers ghosting across her wing as if it were any other limb.

His fingers traveled across the flat expanse, slowly, carefully. Her breathing hitched and her wings fluttered again.

"Can you feel that?" Chat Noir asked. She nodded. "Sorry," he apologized, drawing his hand back. "I should've asked first."

"Wha—" Marinette croaked, then swallowed and tried again. "What do they look like?"

"Like…insect wings. Pink insect wings," he clarified. "But I think I can see the pattern our suits have. Y'know, the little shapes? Oh, I have an idea. Turn on your communicator."

She did as she was told and was able to see her wings through the screen as Chat slowly moved his baton up and down, in and out, and around her wings. Attached vertically to her back, each wing was only a few centimeters wide at the base, and expanded the further out they went before narrowing back to a smooth, oval-shaped edge about the same size as the base. They were light pink, just like he'd said, though they began to darken about a quarter of the way up her wings and by the time they reached her back, they were the nearly the same shade of red as her suit. Thin and delicate, like gossamer, with tiny, darker lines running through them like veins. When he moved in close, she could make out the faint hexagonal pattern across them that both of their suits had. She wondered if that meant they were just as indestructible even though they looked like they shouldn't even be able to lift her weight.

She let out a tiny laugh of wonder and her wings fluttered in response. Chat gasped in surprise and nearly dropped his baton.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean to do that."

"Can't quite fully control them, can you?" he guessed. "My tail and ears are the same way. Try and relax them."

Ladybug half-turned towards him. "How do I do that?"

"You can feel them, right? They're an extension of you and they'll do what you want—except when instinct takes over, probably. Try relaxing your shoulders first."

She took a deep breath in and allowed her shoulders to relax on the exhale. She did it again. In and out, in and out. After a few moments of this, she felt her wings begin to lower.

"There you go," Chat murmured encouragingly. He held up his baton so she could see the way they settled against her back, one tucked underneath the other. Like this, they extended to her hips.

"This is amazing," she whispered to herself and then snapped her communicator shut and spun around to face her partner. Her wings unfurled of their own accord and began fluttering. Her earrings tingled and a murmur of voices swelled in her mind, the echoes of her predecessors rising to the surface in the rush of this new power. They wanted to fly as much as she did.

Ladybug rose off the ground and flew over his head. "Give me your hands," she instructed. Chat tucked his baton on his back and obeyed without question.

Honestly, she wasn't sure she could do this, but it seemed like the kind of thing they needed to figure out right away. She took a deep breath, wings flapping harder, and she pulled up. Chat let out a tiny yelp as his feet lifted off the ground.

"Ooh—whoa! Ha—hahaha! Oh whoa! Okay, okay, this is, this is cool!" he rambled, breathless.

Ladybug laughed. "Hold on tight."

Chat had pulled off some pretty miraculous stunts in his time as a hero, the kinds of things only daredevils and adrenaline junkies would even consider. That being said, he was completely unprepared for his Lady's second jump off the Eiffel Tower that night.

"Wait, whaaaa—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

If anyone in the general vicinity had somehow missed the commotion in the last five minutes, there was no way they missed the loud yowling of the cat boy as the two heroes went flying off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Chat Noir's panicked shouts quickly gave way to loud whoops and laughs, which Ladybug echoed with laughter of her own. They flew over _Champs de Mars,_ drawing heads and eyes skywards with their hollering.

Though his weight was not unbearable, her arms quickly grew strained from holding him in this position. If they were going to go flying in the future, she would have to come up with a better way of holding him. Grinning deviously, Ladybug wondered if he would object to being carried like a princess.

With a single shift of her body, she could adjust her trajectory and began her descent towards the nearby rooftops. She informed him she was going to put him down and Chat Noir nodded. She slowed as they neared their destination but did not stop. Flying just low enough that the tops of his feet could touch the surface of the rooftops, she let him linger like that for a few seconds, not quite running, not quite flying, and then she let go.

True to his namesake, Chat didn't even stumble when he landed and kept right on running. He crossed several rooftops without breaking stride and Ladybug kept pace with him overhead.

It was strange. Flying didn't quite give her the same workout that running did but it was in no way effortless. The wings may not have been a part of her physical body (she thought?) but the could feel a strain in her back and shoulders that mirrored the one she was used to from running. Maintaining an aerodynamic position wasn't necessarily simple either. Her arms were easy enough to manage but gravity pulled on her legs and she had to tense up to keep them from drooping and slowing her flight. Flying wasn't hard but only time and practice would make it easy.

Ladybug dipped down to Chat's eye level. He glanced over at her and smirked in a way that seemed almost challenging. She raised her eyebrows then smirked back at him and picked up speed. He quickly disappeared from her line of sight and she turned her attention to the space ahead of her. The roof disappeared from under her as a higher building gave way to a smaller one. A flash of blonde out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she looked around just in time to see Chat Noir sailing past her, arms and legs outstretched.

He landed with ease and loped on all fours, matching her speed. He flashed her a cheeky grin over his shoulder then put on a burst of speed and pulled ahead.

Oh, so that was how they were going to play?

Ladybug dove down just close enough that she could reach out and flick the top of the tail streaming out behind him. Her finger _pinged_ against the metal and he yelped, curling his tail up. She laughed as he glanced over his shoulder and shot forward. Over his head and down in front of him, she flipped herself upright and pushed off from the rooftop, simultaneously forcing him to slow or veer off course to avoid hitting her. She rocketed into the air with her partner's shout chasing her.

"That's cheating!"

Ladybug laughed again and did a flip just because she could.

She was as high as the viewing platform on the Eiffel Tower, at least, when she leveled off and she found her breath snatched away by the incredible view. The city spread out in all directions, a sea of lights flickering away beneath her. Countless cars moved along the streets, their headlights like little currents in the bigger sea. The people were nothing but specks caught in the tide.

Paris was beautiful.

And it was hers.

* * *

 **yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	48. Quarante Huit

**I'd just like to take a second to thank everyone for their continued support of this story. It means a lot to me. I'd also like to take a sec to address a question I received on tumblr: "How much longer is this story going to go on?"**

 **Based on what I have written already, the amount of stuff that still needs covered, and the average chapter length…. I'd say there's 25 more chapters (approx 175 pages), minimum. Absolute bare minimum. That's including this one. And assuming this number is even close to accurate, that means we have about 20 more until the climax.  
**

* * *

Alya was absolutely beside herself the next day. Before 9am, the Ladyblog was flooded with images and amateur footage from the night before, as well as a long post of the word "WINGS!" over and over, in every formatting style available to her. All of which Marinette was made aware of after Alya called and woke all four of the people sleeping in her room up, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

' _Yeah, I was there,_ ' she nearly grumbled, if only to go back to sleep.

Nearly.

Thankfully she stopped herself or things could've gotten complicated fast. Just like it would if Adrien didn't stop snickering into the pillow less than ten centimeters from the phone.

Marinette quickly realized that Alya wasn't the only one freaking out. The whole city was abuzz (ha ha) with the news that Ladybug had suddenly sprouted wings last night after a death-defying dive off the Eiffel Tower. Everyone was talking about it, even people who were skeptical that she _actually_ had wings and this wasn't some sort of stunt. #Ladywings was trending (Alya's idea) on all social media platforms. Fanart of her with wings had already appeared. Her father was decorating cookies with ladybug designs again.

With the city in such a frenzy, Marinette couldn't resist transforming again. She sent Adrien a quick text letting him know what she was up to then went to inform her mother she was going out a bit before retreating to her room to transform.

She stood in front of the mirror in her room and examined her wings over her shoulder. They seemed to have gone slack around the base, twisting ever so slightly so they laid flat against her rather than sticking out like she'd been afraid they would. As she'd suspected, the tips of them reached just below her waist. The faint glow she'd witnessed last night was gone, either not visible during the day or merely a byproduct of their first appearance.

She unfurled them with the same amount of thought it took for her to raise her arm. She fluttered them a few times then lowered them again. Everything seemed to be in order.

Wings. She had actual _wings._

And she was gonna have fun.

* * *

The average ladybug can fly 34 miles per hour, which might not seem that much until you remember that the average speed limit for cars on city streets is 35 to 40mph. So, a ladybug could pace a car going steadily down the street if it wanted to.

The average Ladybug can fly 80 miles per hour.

Marinette was about to learn at least one of these facts.

* * *

The city of Paris received its second surprise of the day when a red blur was seen streaking through the sky. Up and down, zigzagging and looping through the air, sometimes almost erratically. Those who happened to be underneath the blur when it flew overhead claimed they could hear a girl's voice shrieking incoherently from somewhere up there.

Most people logically deduced that it was Ladybug, especially after the blur was spotted whisking Chat Noir from the top of Place de la Bastille.

* * *

Ladybug made her first official appearance with her wings the following afternoon when the heroes responded to a small incident on la Seine. A tour boat had unexpected engine trouble and had been unable to make it back to a dock before they'd had to stop. (Marinette had seen it from her balcony and when she saw the police begin to arrive on the bank, she'd set aside her homework and called Adrien.)

Their arrival caused quite the commotion amongst those on the boat and those on the banks who'd stopped to watch the events unfold. She smiled and waved like everything was perfectly fine and kept her wings up while she and Chat discussed the situation with the crew. Things were well in order, thankfully, two boats were on the way to collect passengers and tow the one they were on back to port. No one needed medical attention and the ship wasn't in any danger of sinking. Thanks for coming.

Ladybug was politely bidding farewell when she suddenly felt fingers brush her left wing. She gasped and jumped, wings fluttering hard enough from panic to hold her in the air. Someone yelped. She whipped around. Chat Noir's hand was firmly around the outstretched wrist of a tourist who'd gotten too close without them realizing. He was easily twice Ladybug's age and a whole head taller than her, and suddenly the subject of the ire of one of the most dangerous people alive.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, far too nonchalantly for an expression so dangerous. "Perhaps I missed it over all this noise, but I am quite sure I didn't hear you ask my Lady for her permission to touch her."

The man opened and closed his mouth, glancing between his wrist, Chat's face, and Ladybug. "I—I don't speak French," he stammered after a moment, his accent the only indication he wasn't speaking French despite what her ears were telling her.

Chat's expression darkened. "I don't know how things are where you're from," her partner replied in English, "but here, we _ask_ before we touch someone, especially a lady."

"Okay, okay," the man said and tried to pull his arm free. Chat Noir didn't even budge.

Ladybug's wings slowed and she touched back down on the ground. "Chat," she murmured. "I'm alright. Let go." He didn't. She glanced at the boat captain nervously but he didn't seem to be willing to intervene. Around them, people were watching the scene with apprehension.

"Apologize," Chat Noir ordered.

"I'm sorry," the man said immediately.

"Not to me."

He looked at Ladybug and sighed. "I'm sorry…for touching your wing."

Ladybug nodded wordlessly and Chat released the man's arm. He immediately retreated from the two heroes and members of the crowd shifted away from him like they were afraid to be near him after that display.

"Good day," Chat Noir said to the captain, all traces of hostility gone…to an untrained eye.

* * *

She let Chat spend a few moments fretting over her when they were safely on a rooftop near her house before reassuring him once more that she was fine.

"You jumped and I thought he'd hurt you," Chat explained.

"It didn't hurt. I was just surprised, mostly."

He nodded, relieved. "You'd think it'd be obvious but maybe we should tell people hands off. We had to about my tail, remember?"

She did. In the early days, there had been many people, not all of them children, who'd thought Chat's tail flicking around behind him was an invitation to touch. Her poor kitty had been so unprepared. One of the first interviews he'd ever given had involved a blatant request for people to keep their paws off, so to speak. Perhaps that was part of why he'd been so angry on the boat.

Ladybug sighed. "I don't see why not…but you realize I am not going to hear the end of this from Alya for a full week, right?"

"Well, technically, we don't _have_ to give the interview to Alya," he pointed out.

"And then I won't hear the end of it for a week about how she's so upset that Ladybug chose someone else for the exclusive scoop, after everything." Ladybug sighed. "Besides, after the last few weeks, she deserves an exclusive from us more than anyone else in this city."

Chat Noir nodded in agreement.

* * *

Much like the last time, Alya just about died when she got the call from Ladybug. She agreed to meet them in a park like she had when they'd given her the interview that had led to Volpina's reign of terror. The Guardians had decided at the time that Alya would be getting no more exclusives after that but she was the best option for them in the current climate. No one else could be trusted to treat them fairly. No one else _deserved_ the privilege of a one-on-two with them.

Bundled up against the cold with her equipment in a bag on her shoulders, Alya was already there when Chat Noir arrived by himself to pick her up. He did not mind the look of disappointment on her face, promising her that Ladybug was waiting for them at the location they'd chosen. She did not yelp as she was picked up and her shouts as he carried her across the rooftops were of exhilaration.

Ladybug had taken the location for their interview into careful consideration. With public opinion of them on the flux and the only decent footage of her wings so far also containing a standoff with Chat Noir, she needed to present herself in a very non-threatening manner. She had chosen an indoor garden that was closed for the day. It was thick with vegetation, bushes and vines large you could hardly see the support systems they had grown around. There were flowers _everywhere_. So long as they made it in and out without causing a scene or breaking anything, they would be okay.

She chose a secluded spot away from all the windows so they wouldn't be seen if someone decided to look inside.

Chat came in with Alya through an open panel in the ceiling and used his baton to safely lower them to the ground. He set Alya down and Ladybug smiled at her best girlfriend, lifting her hand in welcome.

"Alya," she greeted. Alya lifted her hand as well but her eyes were focused on Ladybug's shoulders.

Ladybug's smile turned knowing and she unfurled her wings, letting the long, shimmering appendages lift into view. Alya's lips parted into an 'oh' of amazement before twitching upwards. Her friend took two steps forward, lifting her hand as if to touch them, but she quickly caught herself and with a shake of her head, lowered her arm to her side and began unloading her gear.

Alya had improved her equipment since the last time. Instead of her phone, she had brought a proper camera and tripod.

"That's new," Ladybug commented, watching her unpack. She'd never seen them before she was sure this was something Alya would've already yelled at Marinette about.

Alya grinned, extending the tripod. "Yeah, well, I might have…kinda…completely fangirled last night about getting to do this interview and my parents decided to give me my Christmas presents a few days early."

"Do you know how to work that?" Chat Noir asked, examining the top of the camera as Alya attached it to the tripod.

"I practiced with it last night and this morning but, um, bear with me?"

"No problem. You're doing us a favor as much as we are you."

Alya paused and looked at him curiously. "I am?"

"We'd like to get some information about…these—" Ladybug's wings fluttered "—circulating with the public as quickly as possible."

Her friend stared at her pensively for a moment. "I saw the boat video. Did it hurt?"

Ladybug shook her head. "No. They're only a little sensitive. I just wasn't expecting anyone to touch them."

Chat Noir's tail whipped back and forth at the memory, smacking against the bushes behind him. Both girls glanced at him then Alya nodded and returned to setting up her camera. While she was finishing that, Chat shuffled over to Ladybug's side so they could get set up.

"I'd like to shook some B-roll as well, if that's okay," Alya said. "Footage I can play so it's not always just you two on camera."

"What did you have in mind?" Ladybug asked.

Tongue clamped between her teeth, Alya fiddled with one of the controls on the camera. "You flying, if possible. No one has any really good footage yet. There are at least six different theories on how you fly. Six popular ones, at least."

Chat Noir snorted. "The wings aren't just for show."

"Yes, but, since there's no good footage yet, no one is sure just how big or strong they are, what they look like, any of that. I have some questions about them, obviously, but the footage will help explain a lot."

"I won't give away all my secrets," Ladybug warned.

"I know," Alya assured her. "But…c'mon. No one's ever seen a human with wings before. You can't blame us for being curious!"

 _Yeah, but am I even a human anymore?_ Ladybug wondered darkly.

"I'm going to be asking you some things about how they work, your speeds, all that good stuff. If there's anything you can't or don't want to answer, just say pass. And then at the end, you guys can say whatever you want."

"Sounds good," Ladybug said.

"Also, I was thinking…" Alya trailed off and wouldn't meet their eyes. "Would it…be possible for me to ask about…other things?"

Ladybug and Chat looked at each other. "What kind of things?" he asked warily.

"Well…neither of you has given an interview since that man was killed by the akuma."

"And for good reason."

She winced, nodding. "I know."

"But," Ladybug interjected before she could continue. "We saw what you said about us in your blog posts and we appreciate it. So, I say yes. Chat?"

Chat cocked his head to the side, considering them. ' _You sure?'_ his expression asked. Ladybug nodded. "Alright then," he decided. "Ask away."

* * *

The interview progressed better than either Guardian had anticipated. Alya had remained professional in her questioning and never once even implied an accusation against them. She asked the burning question: _why couldn't you save him_?

Ladybug took a deep breath and considered her answer carefully. She couldn't reveal too much about Guardians after all. "Life and Creation are not the same," she began slowly. "I hold the powers of creation and good fortune only. I can fix what's been broken but I cannot bring back a life any more than a doctor can."

"That doesn't seem fair," Alya mused.

Ladybug cocked her head to the side. "In what way?"

"I don't know. It just doesn't."

"We're not gods," Chat Noir reminded her. "If anything is unfair, it's that people expected her to be one."

A look of comprehension flitted across Alya's face briefly. She nodded then looked down at the notes on her phone and her lips twisted thoughtfully. "Why do you think we haven't heard from Papillon in so long? It's unusual."

"Very unusual," Ladybug agreed, unsure of how to answer this without giving away too much, again.

"And unnerving," Chat Noir added. "But we do have a theory. Everything is up in the air right now. Papillon is a force of Order."

Ladybug flashed Chat Noir a warning look and nudged him sharply. Alya noticed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Trust me, okay?" Chat Noir murmured in Ladybug's ear. She inhaled deeply through her nose and nodded. He turned back to Alya and the camera. "Papillon is…like us. Not the same," he stressed, "but similar. He's a force of Order. That might seem weird considering everything he's caused but it is what it is. Right now, things are in turmoil because no one can make up their minds about us. So, we think he's waiting to see what happens before he acts since he doesn't have someone to help him out."

"Should he?"

"Yes. He's like us enough that he should have a partner."

"So…why doesn't he?"

"That's need to know only," Ladybug interjected quickly with an expression that brokered no argument. "Next question."

"Alright," the blogger said and steered the conversation in the direction of Ladybug's wings.

* * *

"Why did you tell her so much about Papillon?" Ladybug demanded later once they had seen Alya on her way and were huddled against a warm chimney. "Tikki and Plagg are gonna kill you."

"Maybe, maybe not." Chat Noir shrugged. "It was a risk but I think it could help us."

"Help us how?"

"Remember what Lisitsa thought was really going on in this city?" he asked.

Ladybug nodded. "She thought Papillon was a black sorcerer."

"Yeah and any of the others who've heard about us probably do, too. But I just announced to anyone who knows about Guardians what's really going on."

Ladybug opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. She opened it again, blinking rapidly, then closed it once more. Chat Noir watched her, a smug smirk slowly spreading across his face. Ladybug shook her head and grinned. "Clever kitty _,_ " she said, scratching beneath his chin with her finger.

"It was, wasn't it?" he hummed proudly. "And worth more than a little chin scratch."

"Oh, you think so?"

Chat Noir ducked his head towards hers. "Maybe a kiss?" he prompted.

Ladybug clicked her tongue. "Oh, I don't know, maybe—"

He pouted, stopping whatever she was going to say next. With a laugh, she put her hand on his cheek and kissed him.

* * *

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	49. Quarante Neuf

**I have been waiting to reach this chapter for so long. This is where the fun begins. And it gets a bit dark.**

* * *

By the start of the new year, there _still_ hadn't been another akuma attack. Even after Ladybug publicly displayed her new power and Chat Noir had revealed very personal information about Papillon in the interview, the former Guardian remained quiet.

"Nurru is still here," Tikki insisted. "It's difficult to explain but we _know_ he is. So Papillon is, too."

Needless to say, his silence had long since reached the point of terrifying.

Adrien and Marinette still had a few days left until school started but instead of taking the time to enjoy the remnants of their holiday like their friends, they spent their days and nights on high alert. It was exhausting but they had no other choice. They _had_ to remain vigilant. They could not afford to slip up when he next struck, no matter what he unleashed upon them.

* * *

Their patrol routine had changed since Ladybug had gotten her wings. Instead of running with Chat along the same or separate pre-planned routes, he took his normal path on the rooftops while she flew overhead. Part of her mourned the loss of their usual fun but she told herself that once things went back to normal, she could afford to spend patrols running with him. Right now, having her as the eyes in the sky was the most efficient method. She took comfort in her ability to spot him running below her, even when she was well over a hundred feet above him.

Ladybug wondered if Papillon was doing this on purpose. His akuma might have all been failures, ultimately, but he was by no means a fool. He had centuries of experience on them and the patience and persistence to pursue their predecessors across the planet for nearly a hundred years. As the embodiment of Order, surely he was a master of planning. It wouldn't surprise her if he was holding back on the akuma just to stress them out so that when they finally faced one again, they would be off their game. It seemed like a pretty solid plan to her.

Though their theory about him waiting still held merit it was beginning to seem less and less obvious. Though public favor wasn't what it had once been, many people had come to realize that there really _wasn't_ anything that the government could do if they didn't want to risk antagonizing the heroes to the point of leaving. Ladybug was certain that their interview with Alya had played role in that since they had all but outright stated that they would throw in the towel if pushed to do so. Nobody wanted that.

There might have not been any active akuma but the threat of them was still real and the city had begun to share in its heroes' apprehension.

Ladybug shook her head and brought her mind back to the present. She checked to make sure Chat was alright then arced her body and shot higher into the air to get a better look at the city. She really, truly loved looking at the city from on high. It was one of her favorite things about having wings. She wished she could show Alya or her parents. Her father would especially love the way the city seemed to breathe, the subtle rippling of the lights as wind passed through. Alive and teeming with life, a view only she could truly enjoy.

There were no explosions, no alarmingly large concentrations of emergency vehicle lights, nothing out of the ordinary. Like every other night for the past month and a half.

She sighed.

Was it bad that she wished someone would just hurry up and get akumatized already?

Ladybug was halfway down when she suddenly became aware of…another _._ She could _feel_ the eyes on her as surely as she could see Chat Noir running below. Someone was watching her, she knew it. She flipped herself upright again and hovered there, scanning the area. At first she saw nothing. Then, in the direction they'd come from, she spotted a strange creature in flight. It was dark, only a little larger than a child. It seemed to have wings of its own, though unlike hers they were attached to its arms which pumped up and down like a bird's. And it was fast approaching.

 _Akuma_ , she thought immediately. Not a butterfly but a victim. Speak of the devil and one appears. Must be her lucky day.

She swore fiercely under her breath, clenched one hand into a fist, and reached for her yo-yo with the other. If she was lucky, and she usually was, then she would be able to lasso them, or at least get them on the defensive. Hopefully Chat Noir would figure out what was going on sooner rather than later. At the very least he'd know when he got too far away from her.

As the akuma neared, Ladybug could make out a long stream of brown hair and a mask covering most of the face. A young girl, then, and…dressed as a bat? She had a pair of big triangular ears where her normal ones should have been and the shape of her wings were distinctly bat-like. Wonderful. What on Earth could have triggered _this_ kind of akuma?

Just before the akuma was close enough for Ladybug to confidently throw her yo-yo, the girl's arms snapped to her sides and she dropped out of the sky. Ladybug watched her plummet. A moment passed and a shrill giggle reached her ears.

"What in the…" Ladybug muttered.

The bat girl's arms suddenly shot out, her wings snapping open and catching a gust of wind beneath her. She began flapping her wings vigorously to regain altitude and then pulled her arms close once more and executed three smooth barrel rolls in a row. She flew higher, past Ladybug who was hovering mid-air in stunned silence. Roughly thirty meters above Ladybug's head, the bat girl suddenly banked hard and began a series of loops that lead her in a wide downward spiral around the spotted Guardian.

It was about the time that Ladybug glimpsed the look of gleeful excitement on the bat girl's face that she realized this was not an akuma.

The bat girl swooped across the rooftops then arched her back and flew back up towards Ladybug, venturing closer than before. "DID YOU SEE THAT!?' she screeched in accented French as she ascended. "DID YOU?! THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I GOT IT RIGHT!"

Ladybug's jaw dropped.

Costumed wings flapping, the bat girl hovered a few meters away at Ladybug's level. Her suit seemed to be comprised of two layers. The first was a form fitting deep brown dress that fell to her mid-thigh, with a light brown belt around her waist and matching bit of… _fluff_ around her neck. Her arms and legs were black and both her hands and her feet were tipped with claws. Her wings, which seemed to be attached to her arms and upper back, were dark brown. The eyeholes of her mask were covered by a black film that completely concealed her eyes from view and gave her decidedly eerie look, despite the grin on her face.

"Who are you?" Ladybug asked.

The girl's grin grew even wider, bordering on manic. "I AM THE NIGHT!" she declared.

… _Ooookaaayyy maybe she is an akuma._

The bat girl laughed heartily, forgetting in her mirth to flap her arms/wings, and she dropped several feet. With a surprised squeak, she flapped frantically to regain the lost altitude. Her head tilted down and she made a face. "Wuh oh. Incoming." Ladybug's head snapped down. "Oh, that's your partner, right?"

Sure enough, Chat Noir was quickly rising through the air towards them holding onto his baton which was rapidly extending upwards. He stopped right at their level and pulled himself up, crouching on the tip of his baton with an ease that still amazed her.

"So, ladies, what's going on up here?" he asked casually while eyeing the newcomer with trepidation.

Ladybug shook her head helplessly. "I have no idea."

"Hi!" the bat girl squeaked.

Chat Noir cocked his head, leaning slightly sideways to get a proper look at her. "And you are?"

She opened her mouth wide, as if to declare herself The Night once more, then shut it again. Lips pressed together, she stared at them for a few seconds. "Sombra," she finally announced, "Guardian of Darkness."

* * *

One of the first things they realized about her was that she was very young. Her voice was still high and juvenile and if her lack of curves were anything to go by, she hadn't made it very far into puberty yet. The next was that she was eager and just plain excited to be there, with them. The third was that she talked more than Alya did when she was excited.

The Parisian Guardians took her to a nearby cathedral where they could hide from prying eyes amongst the small towers and spires. They slotted themselves between two pinnacles and Sombra chose to perch on a large ledge near the base of one, her little claws digging into the stone. When not in use, her wings hung limply off her back and arms like a long cloak.

"So, Sombra," Chat Noir began kindly, "Where's your partner?"

"Uuuummmm…back at the hotel? I think?"

The way she said it was so familiar and Ladybug couldn't help but chuckle. "Let me guess: you weren't supposed to come meet us by yourself?"

"Uuuumm…"

"We're not your parents," she reassured her. "You're not going to get into trouble with us or anything. And we're not that much older than you."

"You're not?!" Sombra blurted out. "Jacob told me I was probably the youngest of all of us!"

"We're both about seventeen," Chat Noir explained. "How long have you been a Guardian?"

"A few months. I'm thirteen."

"We were fourteen."

"And you're both—I mean—you were chosen together?" They nodded. "So, then, who taught you?"

"Um, well…" Chat glanced at Ladybug. "We sorta taught ourselves. Our kwami told us the important stuff about being Guardians and our powers but we've pretty much figured out the rest on our own."

Sombra shook her head. "I'd be totally lost without Jacob teaching me. Oh! No! Firefly, his name is Firefly."

Ladybug and Chat Noir were surprised. She'd only been a Guardian a few months and she already knew her partner's identity? Was that the norm? Clearly it was for her if her first instinct was to refer to him by his birth name rather than his hero identity.

"Sorry, he warned me you two would probably be big on secret identities and I'm not supposed to use our names or ask you yours. I've never met any others, I'm sorry. Did I mess up tonight? I feel like I messed up tonight." Sombra rambled.

"The first Guardian we met attacked me and scared Chat to death in the process," Ladybug said. "Compared to her, you did fine."

The bat Guardian laughed weakly. "Good."

"So why are you here?"

"Because of you. We um, we saw you on the news. Jacob—grrr, _Firefly_ said he'd known you two were active here in Paris but hadn't really paid attention because it wasn't his business. Or ours." Sombra folded her arms. "Which doesn't make sense to me because I think we should all be helping each other since we've all got the same mission or purpose or whatever. But then there was all this talk about somebody dying and things called akumas and a butterfly dude who's all about order and suddenly he was _super interested._ He wouldn't tell me everything but, _apparently,_ what's going on with you guys is really important because next thing I know, we're on our way here."

Chat Noir and Ladybug looked at each other in surprise. "It worked," he breathed. "I told you it would."

Ladybug shook her head slowly in amazement. "Where did you come from, Sombra?" she asked.

"São Paulo, Brazil," the young Guardian said matter-of-factly.

Neither of them were expecting that. The interview had gone live less than two weeks ago and they were already here? "Y-you mean you both just up and left?" Chat Noir demanded.

"Yep."

"What about your parents?" Ladybug fretted. "Do they know?"

Sombra shrugged, unbothered, but didn't elaborate. "We're here to help you. I don't really understand why but he said you'd need us. So…ta da?" She shook her hands theatrically.

The older Guardians considered her for a moment then looked at each other. Chat Noir raised his eyebrows and Ladybug nodded. "Sombra," she said, "we'd like to meet your partner."

"Oh, really? Well, good."

" _SOMBRA!_ " A man's voice cut through the open air, startling Ladybug and Chat Noir so much that his tail shot straight up and her wings started flapping.

Sombra's ears drooped and she pointed at something behind them. "Because he's right there."

* * *

 **Meet Sombra, the hyperactive bat child and youngest Guardian alive. I hope you like her because she's going to be a central character for a while...if not for the remainder of this story as we begin moving towards the end (which is still a ways off).**

 **Here is a handy reference chart that I will be updating periodically as more Guardians are introduced to help you keep track:**

Creation: Ladybug (Marinette) | Destruction: Chat Noir (Adrien)  
Order: Papillon (?) | Chaos: N/A (Deceased)  
Honesty: N/A (Deceased) | Dishonesty: Lisitsa (Olesya)  
Light: Firefly (Jacob) | Darkness: Sombra (?)  
Possibilities: ? (?) | Memories: ? (?)  
Water: N/A (Deceased) | Fire: ? (?)  
Earth: ? (?) | Air: ? (?)  
Life: ? (?) | Death: ? (?)

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	50. Cinquante

**LOL I'M GLAD SO MANY OF YOU ARE HAPPY TO HAVE BAT CHILD AROUND.**

 **If anyone wants to know what she looks like, I have posted images on tumblr.  
**

* * *

The Firefly, Guardian of Light, lived up to his namesake. He wore a black coat that reminded Ladybug of 18th century military garb, with golden yellow accents and buttons. The flaps of his coat, which fell to his knees, were such a bright shade of yellow that they almost seemed to glow. His gloves, pants, and boots appeared to be black and were skintight, the latter two only distinguishable by the accents at the top of the boots that matched those on his coat. His head was covered by an orange hood and his mask, which was black, was shaped oddly. Instead of sitting horizontal, the top of it started at his left temple and traveled down diagonally to end at his jawline, leaving one eye and the rest of his face above that exposed. Both hood and mask were trimmed with the same shade of golden yellow as everything else. A glowing orb the size of a marble hung around his neck.

He was taller than all of them and though he didn't appear to have an overt amount of muscle mass or any visible weapons, he somehow managed to be more imposing than the Guardian of Destruction standing a few feet away.

Sharp green eyes took in the local Guardians but with his mouth hidden there was no way to read his expression in the gloom. He looked at his 'partner' and his eyes narrowed.

"I told you to not to," he scolded.

"I'm sorry," Sombra apologized meekly. "B-but I was bored and I saw her go flying by and I really wanted to fly with her."

"And what did Nohxx have to say about this?"

"Um…I might have transformed before he could say anything. B-but he hasn't woken up to yell at me so I think he doesn't care!" Sombra added with a grin.

Firefly shook his head and turned to face Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ducking his head, he gave a slight bow towards them. "Ladybug, Chat Noir," he said before straightening. "I apologize if she offended or alarmed you in any way. I intended to introduce us in broad daylight."

Ladybug shook her head. "It's fine. She surprised us, that's all. Lisitsa attacked me when we first met."

"Lisitsa," he repeated, "She's still the Fox?"

"We saw her six months ago," Chat Noir confirmed.

"And where is she now?"

"She went back to Russia to finish with a black sorcerer she's been after. Then she was going to try to find the others. She asked us to hold down the fort for another year."

"So she _will_ be returning?" he checked, brow furrowed.

Ladybug nodded. "She swore it."

"Good," he said with a firm nod. "And on that note, I think we should take our leave. It's late and we've come a long way. There will be plenty of time for us to speak tomorrow."

"Alright," Chat Noir agreed. "We could meet on top of the Notre Dame?"

"Perhaps somewhere that won't require flight and risk us being spotted by hundreds of tourists," Firefly suggested.

"Oh, um. Good point. Where are you staying?"

Firefly listed the address of a hotel in the city's south side and Chat Noir's brow furrowed in concern. It wasn't the most expensive area but it certainly could not be cheap. "I see," he said carefully. "In that case, do you know where the Latin Quarter is?"

"Yes, I believe we can find it."

"Pick a rooftop somewhere in there," Chat instructed. "Just keep out of sight and we'll find you."

"Ten in the morning," Ladybug added. "Does that work?"

Firefly nodded. "I believe so. Sombra?"

The bat girl shrugged, fiddling with the dark bracelet on her wrist. Her Miraculous. "You're the one who's gonna have to wake me up."

"Ten will work."

* * *

Tikki waited until Marinette was settled into bed before announcing she was going out. Marinette raised her eyebrows but wasn't too surprised.

"The kwami?" she guessed.

"Nohxx and Lummi. We're going to explain things to them but it'll be up to you to fill in their Guardians."

"So why bother going at all?"

Tikki's expression fell and her antenna drooped and Marinette immediately felt bad for asking. "This isn't something they need to learn secondhand. …And it has been many centuries since I've seen them."

Marinette nodded. "Just be safe, okay?"

"Of course."

* * *

Lummi was a kwami so yellow and bright that most humans would find it difficult to look at her for too long. Well, if she let herself be seen, of course. She had two black, golden-rimmed wings on her back, bright orange eyes, and a pair of long antenna on her head.

Nohxx, in comparison, was inky black from head to toe, except for the deep brown wings on his arms. Even his eyes were solid black, distinguishable from the rest of his face only by their shininess. He had large bat ears on the side of his head which extended into the signature kwami point, much like Firra's did.

"Tikki!" Nohxx cried, his voice like a dozen tinkling chimes, before launching himself at the kwami of Creation. Red and black whirled around through the air together while deep purple and vibrant yellow met with a much more subdued head nuzzle.

"It's good to see you," Lummi hummed in her deep voice.

"And you," Plagg agreed with a soft purr. "How have you both been?"

"Better than you, from the look of things," she commented. "Was your Cat speaking true? Is it really Nurru's host?"

"It's much worse, actually. Tikki," he called, looking towards his counterpart. Tikki pulled away from Nohxx with a reluctant sigh and motioned for the bat kwami to follow her.

"Lummi," Tikki greeted with a warm smile. Antenna twitching, the two kwami bumped heads. Behind them, Nohxx wrapped one winged arm around Plagg's shoulders and Plagg responded by looping his tail around Nohxx's waist.

Lummi drew away first and pressed her paws together in front of her abdomen. "It is wonderful to see you both but, please, Nurru?"

"Is he alright?" Nohxx asked.

Tikki and Plagg shook their heads then began their sorrowful tale once more.

* * *

Marinette told her parents she would be spending the day with Adrien and Sabine prepared her a bag of treats to take with her. This was normal for her mother to do since Adrien always loved what they cooked for him and she thought he was too skinny. Secretly, Marinette was glad her mother had chosen to do so today. What better way to make their guests feel welcome than with warm baked goods?

Adrien didn't quite agree, though, if his pout was anything to go by when she announced he had to share. She tapped him on the nose fondly and his pout turned into a smile.

With her wings and his baton to provide them both a bird's eye view, it took only about five minutes to locate Firefly and Sombra sitting behind the cover of some parapets. It helped that Sombra spotted them first and began jumping up and down, flapping her wings wildly. Luckily the rooftop was high enough off the ground that no one was likely to notice her.

Firefly rose to his feet as Ladybug arrived and dipped forward in a bow like the one he had given last night. Ladybug hesitated, unsure if she should bow in return or not. She'd thought his bow had been one of apology last night, perhaps in polite greeting, but she hadn't expected it again. Lisitsa had bowed a few times, as a farewell or apology, but not like this. Was it a Guardian thing?

"Hiya!" Sombra chirped excitedly.

Chat Noir landed on the rooftop on all fours, loping for a few bounds before he straightened up and slowed to a stop. Firefly bowed to him as well then glanced down at Sombra and inclined his head in their direction pointedly.

Sombra heaved a sigh but mimicked his bow.

Chat's tail flicked once. "You don't have to bow," he told them.

Firefly raised his eyebrows. "Alright," he said, "if you wish, but you shouldn't be surprised when the others do it."

"The other Guardians?" Chat clarified. "Why would they bow?"

His eyes widened, eyebrows stretching towards his hood. "You are Creation and Destruction," he said as if it should have been obvious. "Apart from Life and Death, you are the highest among us. Your kwami are the eldest and strongest. You have seniority."

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged incredulous looks and Ladybug shifted uncomfortably. "They never said that," she mumbled.

Firefly cocked his head to the side. "Which of you is older?"

"We're the same age."

" _Really?_ " he asked, leaning forward with interest. His eyes seemed to shine in the dark. "Chosen together, then?"

They nodded.

"Amazing. Do you understand how rare that is?"

"Pretty rare," Chat Noir replied. "My kwami said it hadn't happened for over a thousand years."

"Sounds about right. It didn't happen to me or Sombra, obviously, or her predecessor. To be honest, I'm not even sure of the last time our kwami chose together. You're the only ones I know of." He folded his arms and appraised them carefully. "I take it…that means your predecessors died in the same battle."

"Yes," Ladybug replied without hesitation. No need to bring up Black Cat's final act yet. "To Papillon."

Though most of his face was hidden, Firefly still managed to look completely enraged at her statement. "And you're absolutely certain of this? Of him?"

They nodded. "Plagg said he was going to talk to your kwami," Chat Noir added.

"They met," he confirmed, "but they would not tell us what they'd learned."

"Papillon is another Guardian, right?" Sombra asked. "That's what he said but I don't see why a Guardian would be trying to kill other Guardians. We're good guys, right?"

"We are," Chat Noir agreed with a nod. "Papillon was, too. We'll explain as best we can, okay?"

Firefly nodded and sat down. Sombra followed his lead wrapping her arms around herself so that her wings draped over her body. Chat and Ladybug sat down in front of them and Ladybug held out the bag of pastries. "Here," she offered, "my mother packed these. You're welcome to share."

Sombra's hand shot forward and snatched the bag out of Ladybug's hand so fast that she almost missed it. The youngest Guardian unrolled the top of the bag and immediately began rifling through the contents. She chose a croissant and took a bite out of it with a pleased hum in her throat. Firefly held his hand out for the bag and she gave it to him without protest.

"You eat," Ladybug instructed, "we talk."

* * *

By the end of their tale, Firefly was furious. The cold, measured kind of fury that Adrien was used to seeing from his father when he was upset. He did not yell but the waves of fury rolling from him were strong enough that Chat could practically feel them. He'd expected that.

He was not expecting Sombra to take everything in stride. She hadn't even blinked when Ladybug told them how long Papillon had hunted their predecessors though they had been expecting a lot of confusion. Ladybug had even been hesitant to mention that little detail, out of respect, he assumed.

"So…Papillon is really old like you?" Sombra asked, either not noticing or caring about Firefly's anger.

 _Ooooh,_ Chat thought, the light bulb going off in his head. She and Firefly had already shared their identities and he must have at least hinted at his real age as well. Something like that would have been difficult to hide for very long. In hindsight, Lisitsa had only done a halfway decent job of keeping it secret. Sombra may have only been a Guardian for a few months but she already knew more than they had in a year. Maybe there were perks to the 'usual' cycle for Guardians. Not that he'd change his lot for anything. Without circumstances being exactly as they were, he may never have ended up with his Lady.

Firefly nodded. "He is. We're close to the same age. I knew him, a long time ago. I can't believe he's gone so far even under the influence of Curse."

"What do we do?"

"We kill him," Firefly said simply. Chat Noir stiffened and Ladybug sighed. Firefly looked at them sharply. "Did you have other plans?"

"No," Chat sighed. "We just…we've never killed anyone. It doesn't seem right."

"Right is a matter of perspective," Firefly cautioned them, "and that perspective changes and warps with time. What you consider 'right' today is not necessarily what was 'right' in my time."

"Yeah, thanks, we know."

"Peace. I am only trying to help you since neither of you has had proper help thus far. But he has to die."

"He has to be caught first," Ladybug pointed out. "And we've never even seen him in person. We have no idea where he is or any way to track him. He only ever sends akumas."

"We'd have probably caught him a long time ago if we knew where he was," Chat Noir complained, leaning back on his hands. "None of the possessed people can never remember anything but his voice so even if one of them has ever been face to face with him, they couldn't tell us. And he targets people all over, from all different age groups, for all sorts of things. Heck, the only consistency with akumas is that they never appear outside of the inner city of Paris."

Firefly folded his arms thoughtfully. "These akumas, they're his butterfly spirits? Or the monsters they create?"

"We use the same word for both," Ladybug explained. "The akumatized people have names that they go by like supervillains or something but we refer to them as 'akuma' as a general term. An akuma attack means one of his creations is attacking but if we say we're capturing an akuma, we mean the butterfly."

He nodded. "I see. So, both spirits and creations are never spotted outside a certain area. I imagine you have theories for this and they're probably right, which will help, but have you considered tracking him through the butterflies?"

Chat Noir snorted. "First thing we did. They don't go anywhere, though. They just fly around and disappear after a while."

"I thought you'd say that. They're not really butterflies at all, just manifestations of his magic, but they are still physical beings and there _is_ a way to know where they came from." Both Parisian Guardians sat up straighter at this. "The Guardian of Memories should be able to trace the butterfly back to its origins, if they have a chance to examine it."

Chat Noir and Ladybug looked at each other with nearly identical, slack-jawed expressions. Could it really be so simple? Had the solution to their problem been another Guardian this whole time?

"And—and the Guardian of Possibilities could predict when a butterfly will come out, right?" Sombra added and knocked them for another loop.

"Oh my God," Chat whispered.

"Of course, they have to _be here_ in order for that to work." Firefly frowned. "And I have no idea where they could possibly be."

"Y-you saw our interview. There's a chance they will, too," Ladybug reasoned, sounding almost breathless.

"There is a chance," Firefly agreed. "Though to be honest, I wasn't the one who found the interview." His eyes crinkled like he was smiling and he looked down at Sombra, who, realizing she was suddenly the center of attention, beamed with pride. "She's…a bit of a fan."

Pride quickly morphed into mortification and her cheeks flamed. "Nooooooo," she moaned, hiding her face behind her wings, "why did you have to tell them?!"

Ladybug giggled and Chat Noir grinned widely. "Hey, Sombra, you know the Ladyblog right?"

Sombra nodded without looking at them.

"The owner is actually a friend of ours."

Her head snapped up. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

Sombra mashed her lips together and shook her head slowly.

"But this young lady is unaware of your identities, correct?" Firefly checked, sounding stern.

"Correct," Ladybug confirmed. "She came close, once, a long time ago, but last year she decided she wasn't going to try any more. She told me to my face."

"Oooh, that's why the 'theories' page disappeared," Sombra realized. "I remember when that happened."

Firefly nodded and Chat Noir couldn't help but notice the way he relaxed, almost as if relieved. He could've been mistaken, though, and decided not to question it.

"Good, then," he said, "now back to business. I was only made aware of your interview through her and, since it was in French, I was only able to understand you once I transformed. If you want to increase your odds, I suggest we repeat the message in English at the next available opportunity. It will circulate much further on the internet."

"He only knows that because I told him that," Sombra stage-whispered.

Chat winked at her and her eyes widened a bit. She looked away quickly and he had to bite back a laugh at the bit of color that rushed to her cheeks. She was an adorable little thing.

Ladybug, however, hadn't noticed the moment and was eyeing Firefly with consideration. "We?" she repeated.

"Yes. We. We have a duty to you and to Papillon. We will remain in this city until the situation is resolved and, at least until then, you will have our complete support." He extended his hand.

Ladybug and Chat looked at it and then at each other. He knew what she was thinking. There was no way they were going to say no to help, they'd be fools, but this wasn't like Lisitsa's offer,

"You could be here a long time," Chat Noir warned. "We have no idea how long it might take. Lisitsa said we needed all the Guardians."

"And we do," the elder Guardian agreed.

"Are you able to be here that long? Where will you live? How will you survive?"

"What about your family?" Ladybug asked Sombra.

Sombra looked away uncomfortably and Firefly tilted his head, trying to catch her gaze. They made eye contact and raised his eyebrows. Sombra nodded. " _I_ am her family," he informed them without looking away from his partner. "For all intents and purposes."

Chat Noir raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. It did make sense, though. From the moment he'd seen them together, he'd been wondering at the stark contrast in their relationship to his with Ladybug. He'd known their partnership was different than most Guardians' but Sombra did not seem to have the same status in the team as Firefly. In their time together, he'd done most of the talking and most of what Sombra said hadn't even been _important,_ just commentary. This was less like partners and more like hero/sidekick. Considering their differences in ages combined with the pseudo-familial relationship that was being implied, it was no wonder.

"As to your other questions—" Firefly folded his arms "—I am looking into places we can stay long-term as well as possible…undocumented work options. But don't worry. I've been alive for nearly three hundred years and this isn't the first time I've had to relocate to another country. We can handle it."

In other words, he didn't have the documents to work in France, not enough money for them to survive for long, and his plan was to pretty much wig it with a thirteen-year-old kid in tow.

Chat Noir did not like this plan one bit. One look at Ladybug and he knew she felt exactly the same.

* * *

l **ol for those of you who were waiting for something to do w/ fire...surprise bitches that's not for a while yet :)**

 **Here is a handy reference chart that I will be updating periodically as more Guardians are introduced to help you keep track:**

 _ **Creation: Ladybug (Marinette) | Destruction: Chat Noir (Adrien)  
Order: Papillon (?) | Chaos: N/A (Deceased)  
Honesty: N/A (Deceased) | Dishonesty: Lisitsa (Olesya)  
Light: Firefly (Jacob) | Darkness: Sombra (Aline)  
Possibilities: ? (?) | Memories: ? (?)  
Water: N/A (Deceased) | Fire: ? (?)  
Earth: ? (?) | Air: ? (?)  
Life: ? (?) | Death: ? (?)**_

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	51. Cinquante-et-un

**Yo dudes make sure you check out the ML Guardians AU tag on my tumblr blog. Got some cool fan art, plus I did a Q/A session where people could ask me questions about the Guardians. There's some new info in there ;)**

* * *

Adrien was blessed with two things that more people in the world needed: a generous heart and a generous fortune. Marinette suspected he was preparing to utilize both.

* * *

Chat Noir offered to buy them all lunch and Firefly and Sombra accepted his offer gratefully. Though almost immediately the question was posed: how? Would they de-transform and go? Or should Chat go collect the food and meet them back here.

Firefly had no problems with de-transforming since he had no identity to protect and their identities would be as safe with him as other Guardian secrets. Then Sombra pointed out that she wouldn't be able to understand them very well even if they spoke English. They decided to send Chat Noir after the food and wait.

While he was gone, Ladybug decided to give their new allies a rundown on akuma. The general dos and don'ts and what to watch out for. She stressed the importance of not becoming one of their minions but also not harming them too badly. They were victims, after all, and if they died, that would be the end of it. She couldn't bring them back.

"In that case, the blunt only," Firefly instructed Sombra. She nodded seriously.

"What are your weapons?" Ladybug asked curiously.

"I have none. The Firefly Miraculous utilizes light for its offensive and defensive capabilities but, like you, I am intended for more of a supportive role," Firefly explained. "The Bat Miraculous is primarily offensive. Show her."

Sombra jumped to her feet and lifted her arms away from her body, gesturing to the belt around her waist and Ladybug realized for the first time that she had two discs around her waist. She almost would've called them Frisbees. They were about the right size and the edges were curled up so it would not hurt what it hit. Sombra selected one and held it out for Ladybug to see.

"Frisbees?" Ladybug couldn't help but ask.

"You've got a yo-yo," Sombra pointed out. "Except when I do this—" she pressed against the center of the disc and the edges uncurled, becoming smooth and thin and dangerous "—they become sharp."

Ladybug's eyes widened and she tried to imagine what something like that would do if thrown at a human body. Primarily offensive, indeed.

"But under the circumstances, she won't be using those in battle," Firefly said. "Except perhaps as tools."

Sombra nodded again. "I don't want to kill anyone."

"Though, now I'm curious, Ladybug, how many powers have you manifested?" the elder Guardian asked curiously. "Other than your initial ones."

"Two. My wings and shields."

"Shields," he echoed. "That's handy."

"Extremely," she agreed, cocking her head to the side as she realized Chat Noir was very close. "He's almost here."

"You can do that, too?" Sombra blurted out. "No fair! I want to do it!"

"You're not powerful enough yet," Firefly explained with a tone that indicated he was repeating himself and not for the first time. "Just give it a few years."

The Bat Guardian grumbled under her breath and returned her disc to its blunt state, reattaching it to her belt.

Chat Noir arrived a few moments later with food and the conversation ended.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir had made it three rooftops away before Sombra called out to them. They turned around. Sombra jumped off a chimney, arms outstretched, and glided through the air. She flapped her arms twice to give herself a bit of a boost then landed in front of them.

"What's up?" Chat Noir asked.

Sombra hopped from foot to foot anxiously. "Can we hang out?"

Ladybug was taken aback. She looked at Chat Noir who seemed just as surprised as she was. "Hang out?" she repeated.

"Y-yeah, 'cos…well…I mean…" Sombra's ears drooped. "I don't have any friends here. You're the only kids I know and since I can't speak French, or much English, you're the only ones I can talk to, too."

Crap. She'd come from Brazil, she wasn't speaking accented French at all, but Portuguese that was being translated by their kwami. Only other Guardians and those fluent in Portuguese would be able to understand her. She was extremely limited in who she could interact with. Plus, they were the first Guardians she'd ever met apart from her partner and they were nearly her age. Ladybug couldn't fault her.

"Yes, we can," Ladybug said kindly.

"We can?" Chat Noir repeated and she shot him a look.

"Yes." Ladybug leaned forward so she was closer to Sombra's level. "We absolutely can."

Sombra, the Guardian to Darkness, smiled brighter than the sun. "Thank you!" she cried and pounced, wrapping her arms around Ladybug. "Thank you, thank you!"

Laughing, Ladybug patted the top of her head. "Just not today, okay? But if you meet us at the top of the Notre Dame in two nights, at 10pm, I'll give you an aerial tour of the city. Sound good?"

She squeezed her tighter and giggled once, breathlessly, then let go. "Thank you, Ladybug," she repeated. "That sounds great."

* * *

School kicked back off with minimal flare, just the way Adrien liked it. He and Marinette got into the same English class again, this time with Nino as well, and the rest of his classes promised to at least be interesting. He mourned the loss of most of his free time and the addition of more stress to his already frazzled psyche. Between nearly 2 months of no akumas and the arrival of the new Guardians, he was just about worn out.

Fortunately for him, he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

* * *

" _Le Guide…je suis le Papillon."_

* * *

On January 8th, no one was prepared.

Not Marinette for an English essay she was assigned.

Not Adrien for the photoshoot that had been scheduled during what should have been his free time that weekend.

Not the tour guide who was fed up with people ignoring the city's history and culture for the intrigue of its heroes.

Not the tourists who saw the black butterfly fly into their guide's microphone.

Not the young girl from Brazil, who just wanted to explore the city with her kwami but was interrupted by the screaming.

Not Alya, who had to make her first mad dash to the scene of an akuma attack in months.

Not the city of Paris for its sudden and abrupt end to its blissful winter peace.

And no one, not a single person in the entire city, was prepared for the Bat.

The akuma was one seriously hacked off tour guide, that was all anyone could figure out. He was middle-aged, perhaps, maybe a bit on the younger side, with bright green hair a nice dress shirt that was tucked into his pants, and he wore a headset microphone with the same tell-tale purple hue as most akumatized objects. He proceeded to yell into his microphone as he made his way through the city, spouting out random facts and tidbits of knowledge about anything he deemed worthy of note. Anyone who came too close got a pamphlet thrown at them, after which they would approach him, accept one of his earbuds, and join the ever-growing crowd of "tourists" behind him.

Hostages, the police called them.

Victims or minions, Ladybug or Chat Noir would've said, if they were there. Which they weren't. A fact _no one_ hesitated to call out on social media, on the news, even Alya was forced to note that the heroes hadn't shown up by the 45-minute mark.

(Marinette was working in the bakery. Adrien was arguing with Nathalie about scheduling. Neither of them was aware yet.)

However, unbeknownst to anyone, there already was a hero on the scene.

* * *

Well, a soon-to-be hero. She wasn't…actually…a hero just yet. Technically. Just an orphaned kid from São Paulo who happened to have a magical bracelet that gave her superpowers and a bat suit. A kid who'd only ever been in scuffles with people her age—none of which were supervillains, sadly, because that would've been awesome, probably—and pretty much depended on her older partner for everything, including wisdom. And, boy, could she have used some of that wisdom right now.

When she'd asked to go out by herself, she had not expected anything to happen. It was just supposed to be and her kwami out seeing the sights and enjoying the new place. Paris had, after all, changed in the centuries it had been since Nohxx had last seen it. He hadn't expected this, either. Nor had their counterparts.

And where were they now? Jacob had a sixth sense for locating her so where the heck was he now when she needed him? And where were Ladybug and Chat Noir?! This was an akuma, this was their city! Shouldn't they have shown up already? It had been almost an hour for God's sake and they were usually on top of things.

Maybe they were still in school? How late was it? How late did French kids go to school? The sun was getting low so proooooobably not this late. Probably. But this was Europe and she'd always heard they did things weird in Europe.

Maybe they were off kissing somewhere. They were French, after all, and French people were supposedly ridiculously romantic. Actually, she wouldn't mind if they were off kissing somewhere. She shipped them as hard as the Ladyblogger did and she wasn't one hundred percent sure they were a couple after being close to them but they did sit _reeeaaallly_ close to each other. Even if they weren't together, if she was Ladybug, she'd be off kissing him anyway because holy _heck he was cute!_

He…was also not here. Where the akuma was. _Droga._

Should she go down there? She'd never been in a fight before and she didn't want people to think she was doing the job for LB and Chat. They hadn't talked about how they were going to be introduced to the city yet, either. But…those people…

 _Trust yourself_ , _Aline,_ the little voice of a dark god whispered in her mind.

Aline, soon to be known to the world as Sombra, took a deep breath through her nose, and exhaled loudly through her mouth. She rolled her shoulders, cracked her knuckles, and came to a very simple decision.

YOLO.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **" _Le Guide…je suis le Papillon."  
_ "Guide...I am the Butterfly." This is pretty much how homeboy greets any new akuma victim in the French dub.**

 **"Droga" = damn it or crap in Portuguese.**

 **Here is a handy reference chart that I will be updating periodically as more Guardians are introduced to help you keep track:**

 **Creation: Ladybug (Marinette) | Destruction: Chat Noir (Adrien)**  
 **Order: Papillon (?) | Chaos: N/A (Deceased)**  
 **Honesty: N/A (Deceased) | Dishonesty: Lisitsa (Olesya)**  
 **Light: Firefly (Jacob) | Darkness: Sombra (Aline)**  
 **Possibilities: ? (?) | Memories: ? (?)**  
 **Water: N/A (Deceased) | Fire: ? (?)**  
 **Earth: ? (?) | Air: ? (?)**  
 **Life: ? (?) | Death: ? (?)**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	52. Cinquante Deux

Alya liked to think she was a good journalist. Sure, she'd had a few…moments…but all in all she thought she'd done well. She tried to keep herself honest, her methods reasonable, and her morals and check. She'd stood by Ladybug and Chat Noir through thick and thin and they had rewarded her for it. She was the number one source for all things Ladybug. And contrary to popular belief, she didn't throw herself head-first into the danger zone. Not anymore. But, hey, sometimes things happened. She was on the front lines; it came with the territory. Sometimes akumas got the jump on her. Maybe she could've been more careful but, should the worst come to worst, the footage she got could end up really helping her heroes defeat the akuma.

Or, maybe, her livestream would be enough to _get their fucking attention._

At least, that's what she hoped as Le Guide took aim at her.

Hopefully she'd have enough control to keep the feed going after—

After—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A streak of black swooped out of the sky and plowed straight into Guide and his followers like God's bowling ball.

There were two types of akuma thralls: those who had enough autonomy to act and think independently and those who did not. Those who could be trusted to act on their own to further the goals of their enslaver and those who were nothing but a mindless horde following orders.

Fun fact: Guide's victims were the latter, which meant they lacked the mental capacity to do some pretty basic things. Like dodge.

So when God's bowling ball came hurtling from the sky with enough force to knock over a small tree and hit Le Guide and those directly behind him, the pins—er, people—careened backwards into those behind them. Thus began the chain.

One after another the members of Le Guide's crowd collapsed into each other, a wave that travelled from front to back. Not even those bringing up the rear, who had at least eight seconds to see what was happening, escaped. The result? A writing mass of confused human dominos struggling with their instincts to get up and away from said mass and their lack of orders from their akuma.

God's bowling ball—which turned out to not be a bowling ball at all—rolled away from akuma and company and sprang upright.

Oh. Well then.

God's bowling ball was actually a girl dressed as a bat. She turned around and, oop. Yep. That was a mask. Superhero?

Probably.

* * *

Well. As far as superhero entrances go… it could've been worse.

* * *

Batgirl sprinted towards her, hollering at the top of her lungs. _"Vai logo! Você tem que sair daqui agora!"_

Alya gawked. Well that definitely wasn't French.

The girl jumped, throwing her arms out to her sides and revealing a pair of bat wings on her suit. Wings that were apparently fully functional because suddenly Batgirl was flying towards her.

File that one under: Things Alya was Not Expecting.

Then Batgirl seized her shoulders with her feet and hefted her into the air and that went straight in the file with the wings.

Alya yelped as pain registered from the points where the girl's claws dug into her skin. Holy hell, how strong was this chick? They didn't go more than a hundred meters when Batgirl abruptly dropped her. Alya hugged her phone to her chest and hit the ground hard, rolling several feet before ending up on her back. She lay there gasping for a few moments and worked on getting her bearings.

A dark shape loomed over her, blocking out the sun. Alya blinked twice and the superhero came into focus. " _Desculpa! Você tá legal_?"

Batgirl held out her hand. Alya swallowed and held up her phone, still recording, still streaming right to the Ladyblog. "Wh-who are you?" she gasped.

" _Eu estou no seu blog? Ah mas que legal!"_ Batgirl waved excitedly at the phone, grinning ear to ear. _"Olá, pessoal!"_

"Who are you?" Alya repeated.

"Sombra," Batgirl said clearly.

"Sombra," Alya repeated, reaching up to tank the offered hand. She gasped as she was yanked upright like she weighed nothing more than an infant. She wobbled unsteadily after Sombra let go but quickly held her phone back up. Her viewers must be losing their minds! _"_ And are you a superhero?"

She grinned again and nodded. " _Aham! Sou sim!_ "

Somewhere up the road, Le Guide let out a furious shout.

" _Opa,"_ Sombra murmured, ears perking up. She held her hand up to Alya and spun around on her heel. _"Se afaste, eu cuido disso."_ She reached for her belt and held up a black…Frisbee?

"Seriously?" Alya complained. "Your weapon is a Frisbee?"

Sombra scoffed and threw an annoyed look over her shoulder _. "Sim, ora, e a da_ Ladybug _é um_ yo-yo _!"_ She rolled her shoulders and then held the Frisbee in front of her, taking aim. _"_ _Mas eu não vejo você dizendo isso na cara dela!"_

With a flick of her wrist, she sent the Frisbee whizzing through the air far faster than any normal toy would and it collided with Le Guide's forehead. Instead of rebounding off him and flopping uselessly to the ground like a normal toy, it came sailing back through the air towards her.

Oh. Well, okay then. Maybe there were some merits to magical frisbees.

Sombra caught it deftly with a laugh then took to the sky once more, leaving behind Alya to scream internally.

* * *

Sombra, lacking any combat experience, whose only options were fight and flight, was not been able to do much but keep Le Guide busy. Her Eclipse could work but with no idea when or if LB and Chat would arrive, using it could easily cost her the fight. But in her opinion, as long as she kept his attention on her, she was doing plenty. Plus, it gave her ample time to learn about their enemy.

And, oh boy, was she learning a lot. She'd been watching Paris through the Ladyblog for years and she knew a thing or two about how akuma worked. Once she got him talking, he wouldn't stop and, hey, considering the guy couldn't understand a word she was saying, she thought she did pretty well on that front. In, like, five minutes she'd gotten his name, motive, powers, and even the location of the butterfly…well, that last one wasn't a definite yes, but she had a strong hunch.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were going to be so proud! …She hoped.

With the eyes of the city on her, Sombra crouched on a balcony railing while the irate akuma screamed at her from below. She drowned out his shouts with her own loud jeering, calling him every name she could think of under the sun and making faces at him.

"COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME YOU LITTLE FOREIGN BRAT!"

"ALRIGHT YOU ASKED FOR IT." Sombra screamed back and promptly swooped down towards him. Le Guide clearly had not expected her to actually do as he'd demanded and was subsequently bowled over once more.

"Also I'm pretty sure that was racist, so up yours!" She braced her hands and feet against his torso and jumped into the air, enjoying the loud ' _oomph_ ' the akuma let out.

Le Guide picked himself off the ground and unleashed a stream of pamphlets into the air. Sombra 'eeped' and dropped out of the air to avoid them. Throwing out her arms to slow her fall, she landed on the ground and only just managed to jump out of the way of a pamphlet which sailed past her with an audible _thwip!_ She squeaked again and tore off across the street, ducking and dodging the torrent of paper projectiles coming her way. She screamed aloud when one whooshed in front of her and skidded to a halt, ducking to avoid the next one, and then dove behind a parked car.

Breathing heavily, Sombra dropped to the ground and peeked under the car. She could see the akumas legs coming towards her and she exhaled through her teeth.

"Come out, come out, you little rodent," le Guide taunted.

Sombra reached for one of the discs on her hip. She jumped to her feet, took aim, and hurled it in le Guide's direction. It hit him square in the nose and Sombra was suddenly very grateful Jacob bad been making her play Frisbee practically every day since they'd met. She couldn't fight this guy head on but she wasn't about to just roll over and let him get her.

Instead of clattering to the ground, her disc came flying back and she caught it deftly with one hand. She let out a surprised laugh and le Guide growled. Except…he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"Grab her!" he ordered, voice amplified by his microphone once more, and pointed at her.

Sombra's eyes widened and she whipped around. Up until that point, the crowd of people under his control had been idling up the street where he'd left them, but at their master's command transformed in the blink of an eye to a mob and surged towards them. Towards her.

"Crap," she croaked. She sped away from the crowd, leaped onto the hood of an abandoned car, ready to take to the sky once more. But then suddenly _she_ was there, swooping in so fast that Sombra didn't even realize what the blur of red was until the battle cry reached her ears. Sombra whipped around. Ladybug floated over Le Guide's prone form and from the position of her arm, Sombra figured that she must've decked him good. The crowd surged forward with renewed vigor and Ladybug took to the air.

Sombra cupped her hands over her mouth. "Ladybug!" she shouted. "The thing you're looking for! It's his headset!"

Ladybug grinned over her shoulder and gave Sombra two thumbs up before returning her attention to the oncoming mob.

Sombra's vision was suddenly filled with black as a figure landed in front of her and she tensed, wondering if she was about to be forced into close-quarters combat, but then Chat Noir straightened up, all smirk and suave and Sombra screamed a little on the inside.

"Sorry we're late," he said. "Where's Firefly?"

Sombra shrugged, shaking her head helplessly. "I was out on my own. I just happened to be nearby. I don't even know if he knows."

Chat Noir nodded and his smirk turned into a genuine smile. "You did good. Ready to do more or do you wanna leave this to us?"

Sombra shook her head and held up her disc. "What do you need me to do?"

"Right on. We're gonna keep this simple. Think you can hit him?"

It was her turn to smirk and she curled her arm into a throwing position. "Where do you want this sucker?"

Chat Noir regarded the akuma, who was struggling to his feet after his fifth time being introduced to the ground. "If you can knock the headset off his head, you will officially be my favorite person."

"Apart from Ladybug?"

"Apart from Ladybug," he confirmed.

Sombra grinned and let it fly.

* * *

As it happened, Sombra did not manage to knock the headset off his head. But she did manage to knock him out and that was good enough for her.

As far as superhero debuts go, it could've been a lot worse.

* * *

"—and he was like, 'SEIZE HER' and I was like 'AAAHH'! There at least forty—no _fifty_ of them and they were all running towards me—"

There had been about thirty people under Le Guide's control, in fact, but Ladybug decided not to mention that.

She and Chat Noir watched with no shortage of amusement as Sombra recounted her first battle to Firefly. The Guardian of Light showed up to the party almost immediately after it ended but had remained on the rooftops so he would not draw attention to himself. Now the three of them sat on an isolated rooftop at least a kilometer from the scene of the fight while the fourth skittered around the space, caught up in her excitement as she retold her tale. At some points, when she was speaking so fast her words blended and she didn't breathe except between every other sentence, Ladybug noticed her accent seemed to grow thicker, bordering on incomprehensible at its worst. She wondered if there was a speed limit on the Miraculous translations.

"Then Ladybug _**whooshed**_ in and knocked that sucker down and OUT!" Sombra slapped her fist into her open palm for emphasis. "Well, not out, but he was down for the count! _I_ actually knocked him out."

Firefly's eyes flicked to the Parisian heroes briefly and his smile widened. "Did you? Well done."

"Yeah, yeah, and with my disc too! He just _dropped._ Bam. Out. Case closed." Sombra lowered her arms and took a deep breath, grinning like a maniac. "It. Was. _Awesome_."

"It really was," Chat Noir agreed. "She had the chance to step back and let us finish the job but she kept going anyway."

Firefly glowed (almost literally) with pride. He stood up and ruffled Sombra's hair affectionately. "Well done, Ally."

She snickered, scrunching up her face. "I wish you could've seen it."

"Well, then you'll just have to show me the video on that Ladyblog you love so much."

Sombra's jaw dropped and even though her eyes were not visible behind the black lenses of her mask, Ladybug knew her eyes would be as round as saucers. "Oooooooh. _OOOOOOOOH._ That's right! I'm gonna be on the Ladyblog! Oh my—EEE!"

"I'll bet she's gives you your own entire post," Chat Noir declared. Sombra staggered. "Footage, pictures, I bet she writes a whole article." He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "I'll bet she wants an interview with you."

Sombra looked ready to faint. Then her expression fell. "But she won't be able to understand me."

Chat didn't miss a beat. "But she can understand me and I can understand you. If she wants to interview you, I'll translate for you."

"Really!?" She clasped her hands in front her chest. "Ooooooh! Thank you!"

"How's your French?" Ladybug asked Firefly. "Alya isn't the only one who'll want to interview the pair of you."

"Atrocious," he admitted.

"Then I'll translate for you, if you don't mind."

"Thank you," he said, "that would be much appreciated. In that case, sorry to kill the excitement Sombra, but we need to decide what we're going to tell people."

"What's to tell?" Sombra asked.

"Not the truth, for starters," he answered seriously. "Remember: Guardians are a _secret_. This is the first time that much of the world has been aware of the activities of even one of our pairs. For all we know, no one is even aware that there are so many of us, or made the connection. We're coming out of the shadows for the first time in our history and, if anything, it will only make the necessity of our secrets more paramount."

Chewing on her lip, she nodded quickly and lowered herself onto the rooftop next to Ladybug. "So what do we do?"

Firefly looked at the Parisian heroes. "This is your city and your call. I'll defer to you but I strongly believe we need an established cover story before we approach the media."

"I agree," Ladybug said slowly. "But we have to keep in mind that whatever we say is going to Papillon. If he starts to feel threatened, he might run."

He considered her for a minute and hummed softly. "He won't run. He won't suddenly become a coward after a hundred years. But what he will become is afraid, desperate even. All the more reason we need to have a solid story to present a united front. He won't go down without a fight."

"Good," Chat Noir growled.

* * *

"Good afternoon," Ladybug uttered into the microphone, beginning the first press conference she or Chat had attended since before the public outcry had begun months before. "Thank you for coming. We are going to explain a few things before we open for questions but before we begin, I'd like everyone to be aware that Chat Noir and I will be acting as translators for the foreseeable future. Does everyone understand?"

A murmur of assent swelled in the crowd then died back down.

She nodded. "Excellent."

Not even twenty-four hours had passed since the most recent attack before the media had been clamoring for a press event to learn more about the little bat girl named Sombra who had bravely faced the akuma alone in their absence. Combined with an official statement by the mayor concerning the presence of an "unidentified foreign entity with unquantified powers operating freely within city limits," none of the Guardians saw any reason to refuse the reasonable request by the media.

So here they were, two days later, Paris's Guardians standing together behind a podium, ready to introduce the city to its newest heroes. And, more importantly, to repeat the message that had drawn in Firefly and Sombra to begin with in English.

Ladybug smiled then lifted her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly. A moment passed in utter silence then someone in the crowd shouted, pointing upwards. Ladybug saw a shadow appear over her and a second later, Sombra swooped less than a meter over her head. The cameras went wild. She sailed out across the gathered reporters, flapping her wings once for a boost, then arced her back and executed a stylish flip, followed by a mid-air roll. She touched down on the platform with a barely audible _thud_ and spun around to wave at the crowd.

" _Olá!_ "

Firefly's entrance was less theatrical but twice as grand. From the sky he slowly descended, held aloft by a pair of wings made of pure light on his back. His knees bent as he touched down then straightened. His wings of light disappeared, starting from the tips and moving inward in less than a second. Then he bowed once.

Chat Noir nodded approvingly and gave them both a thumbs up.

Smiling, Ladybug leaned towards the microphone and spoke over the clamor of the crowd. "Let me introduce you to Sombra and Firefly. They're heroes who have come a long way to help us protect the city and put an end to Papillon's reign of terror."

Cheers went up amongst the crowd and Ladybug paused to give them a moment to quiet, though the smirk never left her face. "They are our allies and I ask that the people of Paris treat them with the same courtesy and respect that has been always given to us. Thank you. We'll take questions now."

* * *

 **Note : Please do not attempt to correct my use of Portuguese. All translations were provided by a good friend of mine in Brazil.**

 **As for the English speakers wondering what the hell she said... it's not too important but you'll likely be finding out later anyway.**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	53. Cinquante Trois

**La multi ani Flavie! :3  
**

* * *

Though their initial plans for an outing had to be pushed back due to Sombra's impromptu debut and the necessity of the press conference, Ladybug and Chat Noir did indeed make good on their promise to hang out with her. Now that she'd gone public, they didn't have to worry about hiding her and sticking to the shadows at night. As soon as school was over on Wednesday, Marinette and Adrien disappeared under the pretense of a 'date' and Ladybug and Chat Noir met Sombra near her hotel.

The young Guardian was hopping from foot to foot in excitement when they arrived. Firefly was nowhere to be found, which relieved both older teens since that meant he hadn't changed his mind about letting the kids have their own day out.

The first thing they did was teach Sombra how to run across Paris's rooftops. Though she'd never done a day of parkour in her life, she was sure on her feet and kept up with them without much difficulty. But she did avoid some of the more difficult jumps and maneuvers the experienced Guardians executed. Ladybug lead them onto one of the usual patrol routes and from there they began pointing out landmarks that they passed.

They stopped to get some ice cream and though Chat Noir did pull out the bills he'd brought to purchase their cones with, the shopkeeper would not accept it and waved them away with a smile. They walked along the streets as they ate their treats and most people gave them a respectable berth on principle. Sombra chatted a mile a minute, protected from eavesdroppers by her foreign tongue. She was just so _thrilled_ to be with them and both heroes wondered separately how much of it was because she was a fan and how much of it was because they were _kids_.

Both Adrien and Marinette couldn't imagine what it would've been like to go through this without each other, without someone their age who could relate to everything they were experiencing. Someone to talk to that wasn't decades older than them and in a pseudo-parental role.

They took her to a park and she proved herself to be an expert on the monkey bars. After she decided to hang upside down from them by her feet with her wings around her like an actual bat, she quickly found herself with a small crowd of excited younglings who were eager to see what else she could do. Ladybug and Chat Noir stood at the edge of the playground and simply watched.

At one point, a little girl around ten years old dragged Sombra over to them and asked them to tell her what she'd said. Sombra repeated her answer, which sounded a bit bizarre out of context, and Chat Noir translated. The little girl nodded, satisfied, and then pulled Sombra back to the play equipment. This time, Chat Noir followed.

A few adults approached Ladybug not long after with a few tentative questions about the young hero.

"How old is she? She's so tiny."

"Younger than us."

"What language is she speaking?"

"Portuguese."

"How is she doing that?"

"Looks like with her feet but I might be wrong."

After the park, Chat Noir left them to "take care of something at home" and Ladybug took Sombra on a river flyover.

* * *

The man known as Jacob nearly knocked over his chair in shock when Chat Noir swung into his open window. "Hey there."

Jacob gawked for a moment and then frowned and straightened out of the battle stance he'd instinctively dropped into. "Ye gods, boy! I thought you were with Sombra."

"Ye…gods? Never mind. I was with her. We took her for a run, got some ice cream, and went to a park," Chat Noir recounted. "Now she and Ladybug are off flying somewhere." His expression turned serious. "And you and I need to talk."

Jacob was immediately wary. It was strange seeing him without his mask on. Unlike theirs, his hid most of his face, starting at the top of his right ear and ending below his left. Almost all his features which would've been used to determine emotions were normally concealed and without them, he was surprisingly easy to read. "About what," he asked, tone guarded.

Chat Noir approached him and gestured around the room with one hand. "This. This won't last forever. Not even a month more, probably, am I right?"

The Guardian said nothing.

"Right?" Chat repeated.

Jacob sighed, mask falling away to reveal the tired, stressed man who'd been struggling to figure out how to survive in a foreign country and keep his worries from his young ward. "We'll manage. I think I've found some under the table work for while I'm here."

"Well, good, but will it be enough to afford this room?"

"The, er, the arrangement is with the hotel, actually."

"Okay. And what about food? Clothes? Money for Somrba to go out and do things so she's not stuck in here all the time?"

Jacob exhaled through his nose, shoved one hand into his pocket, and the other fiddled with the gold pendant around his neck. His Miraculous, which was always glowing brightly when active. It, too, was strange to see in this state. "I'm working on it."

Chat Noir sighed and shook his head. "Wrong answer."

"Well, excuse me for not having a nice established French citizenship!" Jacob snapped. "I did what I could to get us here for _you_!"

"Hey, hey, calm down. I'm not judging you or anything, I'm just worried. You two can't live like this and you shouldn't have to. Let me help. I can help."

"Help? How?"

Chat Noir cleared his throat, shuffled his feet, and then sighed loudly. Here went nothing. He released his transformation and when the light faded, Adrien stood before him. Jacob stared.

Adrien held out his hand. "Adrien Agreste."

"Jacob," the elder Guardian replied, shaking his hand. "…Wait. …I think…I've seen you before."

"You probably did." Adrien drew his hand back and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I'm a model. My face is plastered across a bunch of advertisements."

Jacob gave him a flat look then his gaze slid to Plagg, who had silently joined Lummi on the bed. "A model. You chose a _model_?"

Plagg shrugged. "What of it?"

"You chose a _celebrity_. In this day and age that's like choosing royalty!"

"He was the best candidate."

Jacob scoffed, shaking his head, and gave Adrien a look of disdain. "How's a _model_ supposed to help us?"

Adrien decided to ignore the man's contempt. "My father is a big name in the fashion industry. I have a pretty big allowance. No one will notice if a few hundred euros goes missing from my personal account every month. They'll just assume I'm spoiling my girlfriend."

Jacob's eyes flipped wide and he opened his mouth to probably refuse the offer so Adrien cut him off. "I get you might not feel right taking my money but you really don't have a lot of choices here. That's why I'm _offering_ it to you. You're here to help us and it's not right that you have worry about food and shelter while we do nothing to help you in return. That and I've already booked you both a suite in a long-stay hotel starting tonight."

Adrien pulled the hotel brochure out of his pocket, unfolded it, and held it out to him. Jacob took it wordlessly and leafed through it. Adrien pressed his lips together to suppress a smile as shock was replaced by awe on the other man's face. He and Marinette had chosen together and he was glad he'd thought to get her input because he'd been ready to set them up as close to 5-star as he could get but she convinced him to go down to 4-star so he wouldn't overwhelm them. He was already doing so much for them as it was.

The hotel was located within a few kilometers of their homes. He'd booked them a two-bedroom suite on the top floor with a balcony so they could slip in and out at night if they had to, and a small communal area including a kitchen and a sitting area with a TV and a couch. There was a pool, cable, WIFI, and room service included as well.

The elder Guardian shook his head slowly. "This is…I can't…"

"You can," Adrien said firmly. "Think about what's best for Sombra if not for yourself. You won't have to worry about ending up on the streets, you'll be comfortable, safe…" Adrien reached into his other pocket and pulled out a pair of pre-paid phones like the ones he'd once purchased for him and Ladybug to use. They had fallen out of use since they'd learned each other's identities but their existence had given him the idea. "Here. One for each of you. Ladybug and I each have phones like this and you can text us on them any time you need something. Our numbers are already plugged in there. If there's an akuma, we'll let you know, or you can let us know."

Jacob looked at the phones, at Adrien, back at the phones, then at Adrien, back and forth several times. Adrien gave him a minute to wrestle with his pride and smiled when sensibility won out and he took the phones.

Adrien grinned. "I'll help you pack. Ladybug will be meeting us at the hotel in an hour or so with Sombra. If we hurry, we'll be close enough to hear the screaming."

Jacob grinned in amusement. "You think she'll scream?" he asked with a tone that implied he knew she'd do just that.

"She about had kittens when I offered to buy ice cream. It'll be a miracle if the whole city doesn't find out about this."

* * *

Sombra didn't scream when Ladybug told her what Chat Noir had done for them, she just cried, and cried, and cried, and when the girls met up with the boys in the hotel lobby, Aline threw her arms around Adrien and cried so hard that staff came over to make sure everything was alright.

* * *

Apparently, Jacob hadn't been as good at concealing his worries as he'd thought.

* * *

Paris quickly grew accustomed to having four heroes instead of two. The arrival of Sombra and Firefly had done wonders for public opinion, a fact that surprised both Adrien and Marinette.

Akuma attacks had increased since their public introduction and the challenge from Papillon couldn't have been clearer if he'd had one of the akuma shout it out for him. This would've been a problem if it were just Ladybug and Chat Noir and they were certain that if he'd done this before, public opinion would've plummeted because they would've been unable to keep up. Now they didn't have to worry about rushing away from classes or ditching their friends immediately to fight. Firefly and Sombra were usually quite quick to respond to an attack and would at the very least keep the akuma occupied until Ladybug and Chat arrived. Sometimes they could wrap up the fight themselves and Firefly discovered the first time that if he encased the akuma in a dome of light, it would be unable to escape or multiply, effectively neutralizing it until rendezvousing with Ladybug. He could have purified it himself but it had been a long time since he'd performed the necessary spell and it was just simpler to wait for the spotted heroine.

There were still some questions being posed by the more critical minds. They'd already been questioning the sensibility of allowing _two_ people with supernatural abilities run around unpoliced so were they going to let that number go up to _four_? The opposition argued that who cared so long as they weren't hurting anyone, letting anyone die, and were getting the job _done_.

Fortunately, many people seemed inclined to agree, but there was talk among city leaders about forbidding them from interfering in non-akuma related matters that should be left to the police. Of course, as soon as word of that got around, people clamored to voice their disapproval of this plan. After all, how many robberies had the heroes thwarted on the side? How many people had they helped during wrecks or fires?

Ladybug and Chat Noir decided to let the politicians do what they wanted. It wasn't like they were going to stand by if anyone was in trouble no matter what anyone said. At least there was no more talk involving things that would prevent them from safely dealing with akuma.

* * *

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	54. Cinquante Quatre

" _What did you say?!_ "

"Uh…I don't know how to fight?"

"I—but—you—you're a _Guardian_! HOW have you never learned to fight?!"

"Well, it's not like I could just go enroll in a martial arts class! I'm so clumsy, my parents would never have let me!"

"Oh my _God._ And Adrien?"

"Well, he's an athlete. He's done basketball, lacrosse, and he's an award-winning fencer."

"…Okay, that's better than nothing. But he doesn't fight with a sword or whatever, he fights with a bo staff. He needs staff bo training and _both of you_ need physical combat training."

"Yeah. We'll get right on that."

"I'm serious, Ladybug. You need to be able to fight or you'll get yourselves killed. No, tell you what. This Saturday, immediately when you're finished with school, I want both of you at our suite. I'm training you."

"But—"

"No buts! Dress comfortably. And if you even think about trying to play hooky or whatever you call it here, I _will_ send Aline after you."

* * *

Adrien's eyes went wide in amazement. "He's going to _train_ us?"

* * *

It wasn't training so much as an exercise in getting knocked flat on their backs over and over. Jacob had managed to rent out one of the small multipurpose rooms in the hotel basement and dragged some mats in from the gym. After a brief introductory lecture in which he stressed the importance of hand-to-hand combat and the necessity of being able to survive when their suits were unavailable, he told them to punch him. So, they did. Or they tried to. Then he proceeded to knock them on their asses again, and again, and again.

Aline and the four kwami watched from the side of the room, about as helpful as a crowd at a sports match.

"Watch out!"

"Kick him in the shin!"

"Get him!"

"Ooooooooh!"

"HAHAHA!"

"How come she isn't out here with us?" Adrien complained from the floor, glowering in the direction of the peanut gallery.

"Because I've been training her for months," Jacob said, holding his hand out. Adrien took it and he hauled him to his feet. "Hand-to-hand combat, endurance, Frisbee games, you name it. If I could get her up for it, we'd be doing a run every morning."

Aline made face along with a noise of disgust.

"It'll happen eventually," he warned her. To Adrien and Marinette, "You two have it very different from the rest of us. If you'd had an elder partner, it would've been their responsibility to teach you. Many of those things the kwami kept from you would have been your partner's responsibility to tell you, too. Now." He clapped his hands and backed away. "Go again."

* * *

Fighting sucked.

* * *

Around the end of January, Adrien sat down with Aline and gave her a textbook he'd bought offline for Portuguese speakers to learn French. They spent the first day going over je/tu/il/nous/vous/ils and wrote up a basic list of vocabulary words for her—things like bus, car, bathroom, ice cream, hotel, spoon, fork, plate, cup.

The next day he came with a stack of flash cards on a binder ring with important sentences she'd need to get around the city if she wanted to go out alone. He would teach her how to pronounce them but she could hold them up for people to read in a pinch. On the back, he had the Portuguese translations of each sentence, courtesy of Plagg who apparently spoke every language under the sun.

On the third day, Jacob told him Aline had barely put the textbook down and had been practicing her sentences all day with Nohxx and Lummi helping her.

"She needs to be in school," the older man sighed. "When I found her, she hadn't been in school for a few months at least. I'm not at all equipped to teach her, either, and kwami aren't exactly the best teachers."

Neither was Adrien. And there was no way he'd be able to get away with hiring a tutor for her, assuming either of them would even go for it. She couldn't come to school with him, either. It was sad situation but there wasn't anything they could do. Adrien made it a point to pencil in an hour a day with her for French study.

* * *

Some people wondered if more heroes would come. Heroes like the white fox, Lisitisa, who'd come and gone without warning, and it was this question that sent Alya on a mission. She was _convinced_ there were others and nothing anyone said would persuade her otherwise. Somehow, she'd managed to convince her history teacher to let her do this as a project for credit instead of something else on the syllabus so she could devote more time to her research.

Marinette and Adrien got front row seats to her speculation and findings, with Tikki and Plagg monitoring the situation out of sight and trusting their hosts to steer her off course if necessary.

Alya already had a decent head start thanks to Ladybug and Chat Noir themselves. In their recent interview, they'd told her they were meant to come in twos, a fact backed up by Sombra and Firefly's presence. One of the questions she sought to answer in her research were the identities and locations of Lisitsa and Papillon's missing partners were. Neither Adrien nor Marinette commented on this but they both wondered how much she'd be able to find on the subject. Alya also surmised that each pair was comprised of two related but opposing forces: creation and destruction, order and disorder, light and darkness, and if Lisitsa had been illusion then her partner must've been something to do with reality. Beyond that, she figured each hero would have a unique animal theme and from there she began scouring the history books and legends. She even got Alix to convince her father to help.

Over the course of the three weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, Alya successfully uncovered proof of two Guardian pairs scattered throughout history apart from Ladybug and Chat Noir's predecessors. The first were an elephant and a mouse, whom Tikki and Plagg confirmed to be Memories and Possibilities, and the second was the fox and her deceased partner, the owl of Honesty. Alya explained with no small amount of frustration that she'd been unable to find any sign of the owl after the 15th century even though she theorized that the powers were passed on from person to person somehow. Even if the owl of the era had died, wouldn't the powers have passed on to someone else?

Marinette and Adrien grimaced but, of course, gave her nothing useful.

Alya wondered if any of the heroes would be willing to answer some of her questions if she presented her research.

 _Oh, Alya, Alya, if only you knew._

* * *

" _Je…veux…un glace—"_

" _Une glace,"_ Adrien corrected gently.

Aline scrunched up her nose. _"Je veux_ _ **une**_ _glace…s'il vous plait."_

The woman behind the counter nodded with a polite smile on her face. _"D'accord. Quelle saveur?"_

"Chocolate _._ "

" _Chocolat,_ " Adrien murmured.

" _Sim—oui! Chocolat, s'il vous plait._ "

" _Un_ _cône ou une bol?"_

Aline looked at Adrien helplessly. Smiling, he informed the woman that she would like her ice cream in a cone. Aline hopped from foot to foot excitedly while the woman prepared her treat. Adrien paid and they left the store together. Her first real world practice was a success.

" _Bom trabilho_!" Adrien told her proudly in Portuguese.

" _Trabalho,_ " Aline corrected without looking up.

* * *

"Hey, Maribug?" Adrien murmured. She hummed in reply. "Am I allowed to be a rich boyfriend and spoil you on Valentine's Day."

Snuggled up together on Marinette's bed, the teenagers enjoyed a rare moment of free time by themselves. Between school, Firefly and Sombra, their other friends, and general Guardian duties, they barely had had any time to just relax and be _together_. It was difficult on both of them and there was very little they could do to free up their schedules because everyone else in their lives was under the impression they spent most of their time going places together.

Marinette peered up at him skeptically. "You and I probably have different definitions of 'spoil'," she commented with a hint of warning in her tone.

"…Would it help if I said I'll limit myself to one thousand euros?"

" _Adrien!_ "

He grinned cheekily and nuzzled the top of her head. He was only kidding. He'd limit himself to five-hundred euros.

* * *

Y'know…it kinda figured that their first Valentine's Day as a couple would be spent fighting akuma. And not just one, oh no. There were _three._ Three. One got rejected, one was pining for an unrequited love, both of which were typical Valentine's akuma. But the final guy just straight up hated the holiday altogether and, y'know, Adrien could've respected that to some degree if he hadn't gone and _let himself be akumatized because of it!_

It was like Papillon was intentionally trying to ensure Chat Noir never got the chance to woo his Lady on this the most woo-worthy of days and Adrien was getting _really_ pissed off. By the time the third one sprung up he was ready to pin the prick down and yell at Papillon through him. It was a good thing neither he nor Ladybug got enthralled this time or he would've probably torn the city apart looking for that damn butterfly man.

Luckily, the dinner date Adrien had arranged for them went off without a hitch and even though they hadn't been able to do even half the things they'd planned, he was glad they'd been able to enjoy some time together. And the look on her face when he gave her the necklace with a special ladybug charm he'd had custom made for her was almost enough to make up for all of it.

( _Almost._ )

* * *

Guardians had a rule set in place by their predecessors long ago and enforced throughout the generations by themselves. _The secret must be kept._ Simply put, only Guardians could know the identities of other Guardians. It was for the safety of everyone. Guardians were not allowed to reveal themselves to outsiders, be they family, friend, foe, or just a stranger on the street. No one, ever. There were exceptions when it came to incidental exposure in a battle and in large numbers, although Guardians were supposed to avoid such situations at all costs, and when it came to the mortal spouses that Guardians might take in their lives. After all, it would be impossible to hide such a secret from one's lover.

The kwami played no part in the creation of the rule but it did have their wholehearted support. The secrets of the Guardians were intended for them and them alone. Were it not for the rule, young Guardians would be tempted to reveal themselves, and by extent the secrets, if only to attain some manner of outside support or acceptance. It was simply too dangerous to allow such ancient secrets to become known. They could be used against them. So, the Guardians of old decided. It was never popular amongst the fledglings but in time, all grew to accept it.

Kwami assisted in the enforcing of this rule by utilizing their ability to erase memories related to themselves. If the reveal in question involved the kwami then they could run damage control and do away with the memory for good. If they could not, then it was up to the Guardian pair involved in the offense to _deal_ with the problem themselves. If they did not, other Guardians would do it for them.

There was no other choice.

* * *

 **and you thought this chapter was just filler**

 **As always, feel free to come chat on tumblr. My url is wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	55. Cinquante Cinq

**So, for those of you who have been reading along as this story updates, you'll have seen that this chapter was previously an announcement about the Miraculous Content Creator Blackout (miraculousblackout on tumblr). I am pleased to report that the blackout had an impact, which was what we set out to achieve. Thank you everyone for your support.**

 **And now, back to your regularly scheduled drama. Buckle up, buttercup, because I doubt any of you saw this coming.**

* * *

There was a knock at the door and Adrien looked up from his desk where he was working on an assignment. Plagg grumbled and phased through the desk into the drawer beneath it. "Come in," Adrien called. He heard the door open, close, and then his father appeared a moment after. "Father?"

"Adrien…" Gabriel started then closed his mouth. He took a deep breath. "Son, I need to speak with you."

"Okay," Adrien set his pen down and pushed his homework away. He stood up and walked towards his father. "I'm listening."

Gabriel's expression was unreadable as he stared at Adrien. He was holding something behind his back. Adrien regarded his arm curiously then looked back at his father's face. "Before I say anything…I just want you to know that I love you."

Surprise and then dread flooded through Adrien. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard him utter the words in as many years and it was never simply on a whim.

"And I want to apologize for my distance these last few years. Truthfully, I have been struggling to balance my work and a…special project that has been ongoing since—since your mother…."

Adrien swallowed thickly at the admission but said nothing. Gabriel glanced down briefly and heaved a sigh. "I believe I have found a way to bring her back."

"What?!" Adrien blurted out.

"You heard me."

He shook his head slowly. "She's _gone_ , Father. She's been gone for a long time. Either she doesn't want to be with us or she's dead. There's no bringing her back."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. There are forces in the world far more powerful than anything we could hope to understand. Most of us can only sit back and observe as it happens around us but there are some—a lucky few who are granted power to influence the world, to wield magic, and combat the darkness."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Adrien stammered. He didn't like where this was going. His father shouldn't know these things.

"I'm talking about those who have the power to throw the world into chaos and right it again, the power to command the elements, to create…to destroy…" His eyes flicked downward again. "And even to bring the dead back to life."

"Do you mean Ladybug?" he asked without thinking. "Because she can't do that, remember? There was that whole thing a few months ago."

"I was not referring to Ladybug in that last instance, or Chat Noir, for that matter," Gabriel added. "I meant others like them." He brought his hands around in front of him and Adrien found himself staring down at a very old tome. Illegible symbols decorated a dark brown cover that looked as if it had been through a battle. The skin of his fingers in contact with his ring tingled at the sight of them. "It took me a very long time to recover this and even longer to decode it."

"What is it?"

"The most valuable book in existence. It details each of the sixteen quantic gods and the powers they can bestow on their hosts."

It took every ounce of Adrien's self-control to not recoil from his father. He fixed his eyes on the incriminating book and tried to not hyperventilate. His father _knew_ about Guardians.

"Quantic gods?" Adrien shoved his hands in his pockets. "I didn't know you…believed in gods or weird superstitions."

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are in this book. I hardly think they are superstition." Gabriel opened the book and carefully began to flip through the pages. Adrien glimpsed several people wearing distinctly animal-like outfits, including ones that resembled Lisitsa, Sombra, Firefly and then— _himself._

The man pictured was definitely not Adrien—his features were Asian, perhaps Chinese—but he was wearing all black and he wielded a staff. In the corner of the page was a depiction of his activated Miraculous. Adrien gulped and felt his fingers tingle again.

Gabriel tapped the picture of the Miraculous. "You know, when I saw it up close for the first time, I was surprised at how much it resembled the picture. The artist must have studied it in great detail or had the ring in front of him as he drew it."

Adrien finally met his father's eyes. Gabriel was staring at him intently. "I was even more surprised to see an almost identical ring on your finger not long after."

 _HE KNOWS!_

The young Guardian sucked in a sharp breath and took a step back. "You think I'm Chat Noir?"

Gabriel only continued to stare at him.

"Th-that's crazy! Father, come on, it's not like you to joke."

His father smiled without humor. "And it's not like you to lie to me, son. Do you really think I would not recognize you? I was surprised at how long it had taken me until I learned of the ability Protectors have to disguise their faces."

"I—I—"

"That's enough." Plagg intoned from behind them.

* * *

A few blocks away, Marinette was on her bed working on her own homework when she was suddenly seized with panic. She let out a raspy cry that immediately had Tikki on alert.

"Marinette?!"

"A—A— _Adrien_!" she gasped. Her homework was discarded without a second thought, books and papers alike toppling to the bed as she scrambled to undo the hatch above her. "Tikki, transform me! NOW!"

* * *

Plagg flew towards them with a stern expression on his face. "Don't waste your breath, Adrien. He knows. He wouldn't have come here if he wasn't certain, isn't that right, Gabriel?"

He glanced at his dad to see how he was taking this. Gabriel stared at the tiny god with a slack jaw and eyes wider than Adrien had ever seen them.

Plagg hummed in consideration as he examined the book beneath him. "I haven't seen this in centuries. Tikki's going to have kittens when she finds out. …I thought it was in the hands of a Guardian."

He glanced up at Gabriel, waiting. Gabriel cleared his throat, composing himself with the speed and grace of someone used to working in a sensitive environment. "Perhaps it was at one time," he allowed though he sounded less sure of himself now. "I found it in Tibet in the care of monks."

The kwami hummed again. "Adrien, take the book," he commanded and Adrien obeyed, ignoring his father's protest. He'd never heard Plagg sound so severe and it was scaring him. Gabriel refused to let go and Adrien had to grit his teeth and use the Guardian strength he always kept carefully hidden. The book slipped through his father's finger without much resistance.

"Son, do not—"

"This book is not yours to have, Gabriel, or to read." Plagg declared and Gabriel fell silent. "These secrets aren't yours to know. Though, I'm curious, how much of it did you translate?"

Gabriel hesitated. "Everything," he admitted after a long moment.

Plagg's ears drooped. Before the kwami could say anything further, Adrien suddenly became aware that his Lady was very close. "Oh, crap," he whispered. She must have sensed his fear. Not good. He glanced at his father. Not good at all.

"Ah," Plagg muttered. "I was hoping to break it to her slowly."

Gabriel looked between god and Guardian in confusion. "What?"

"For what it's worth," said Adrien, "I'm sorry if she punches you in the face."

Ladybug arrived moments later. She flew through the open window without ceremony and landed on the floor. "What did you do?" she demanded, looking right at Gabriel. Her tone left no room for excuses or denial, her expression promised murder, and Adrien was almost one hundred percent certain she _was_ about to punch his father in the face.

She stalked towards them.

"Ladybug, it's okay," Adrien assured her quickly. "He's fine, I'm fine."

"Then why the hell did I—" She froze mid-step and stared at Plagg. Her eyes darted between the three of them and then her hands flew to her mouth.

"He knows," he explained quietly. "I didn't tell him he just…he knew."

Ladybug looked up at Gabriel and shook her head slowly. Without another word, she closed the remaining distance between herself and Adrien and threw her arms around him. He hugged her awkwardly with one arm while gripping the book with his other. She was trembling and her wings quivered with tension and he knew how terrified she must have been when she felt him panicking.

"I'm okay," he whispered. "We're okay."

She nodded and pulled away after a few more seconds but she kept one arm around his shoulders. "What's this?" she asked, looking down at the book.

"A book about Guardians and kwami, apparently."

"Guardians," Gabriel repeated slowly. "Is that what you're called? Not 'Protectors'?"

"Why do you have something like this?" Ladybug demanded and was met with a skeptical frown.

"I'm not sure I want to tell you before I tell him."

Adrien frowned, feeling a surge of defiance rushing forward. This was _Ladybug_ and he would not let his father dismiss her so easily. "Well, too bad."

"It's private, son."

He wasn't having it. Not this time. His father owed Ladybug for scaring her like that and Adrien for making it happen. "What did the book tell you about partners?"

"Enough to know why she's here," he sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't inspire such a reaction in my own son."

"Don't change the subject," Plagg ordered before anyone could respond. "She asked a very good question: why? No human would go through what you did to decode this without reason. What were you looking for in here?"

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably and placed his hands behind his back. "There is a…quantic god who can grant life, is there not?"

Plagg nodded. "So you want to bring your wife back if she's dead," he deduced. Three jaws dropped. "You know your son and Ladybug can't so why confront him at all? Why not seek out those who can? I mean, it's obvious that they're starting to come here. You could've waited to speak to them personally."

Gabriel shifted again and looked at Adrien. "I was hoping—"

Adrien cut him off. "You wanted my help." Gabriel exhaled and nodded. "You thought I might know the Guardians you were looking for or that I might know how to get you the Miraculous or something, right?"

"Yes," his father confessed. "The book says the Turtle and the Bear hold the powers of life and death. Do you know them?"

"We know of them," Ladybug said. Adrien glanced at her. "But we have no idea how to contact them or where they could even be."

"And you may never," Plagg added. "There's a chance they _won't_ show up even if the rest do. I'm sorry to say, Gabriel, but your efforts were for nothing."

"But you can contact them, can't you?" Gabriel asked with a hint of desperation.

"I will not."

He had never seen his father looked more dejected, more hopeless, than he did in that moment. Adrien was surprised at his kwami's heartlessness. "Plagg…" he murmured. "My mother…"

Plagg turned around and shook his head. "I know the story, kid, and there's no proof she's dead, right? And even if she was, it's been years. Wayzz's host cannot bring back the dead after a certain time has passed and he would need the body. And…his host rarely honors such a request even if coming from a Guardian. I'm sorry, Adrien."

"Tikki would like to speak," Ladybug said suddenly. She glanced at Adrien. "She says it doesn't matter if he sees me at this point."

Without waiting for permission, she released her transformation. Gabriel shielded his eyes from the light and then blinked in surprise at the girl standing there. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he said, almost to himself. "That explains a _lot_."

Marinette inched closer to Adrien, shying away from his father's stare. He tucked his arm around her more securely.

Tikki cleared her throat. Gabriel looked at her with a flicker of hope in his eyes. "I don't suppose I could convince you either?"

The kwami shook her head. "I am truly sorry, Gabriel Agreste, but I agree with Plagg. Wayzz's host will not honor your request and no Guardian has the power to locate your wife if she does not wish to be found."

"The Chameleon—"

"Is dead," Plagg interrupted flatly. "We cannot help you."

"But—"

"We cannot help you," both kwami said together with finality.

Gabriel's face crumpled. He shook his head, backing away from the kwami and Guardians, and then fled the room.

"Stop him!" Plagg cried.

"No," Tikki interrupted. "He's not a risk yet. Allow him this moment."

"But he—"

"We have to tell them, Plagg. Do you really want him around for that?"

* * *

There were times when Adrien resented his father. There were times he begrudged him his successes, his company, and everything that kept him from being with his son. All Adrien had wanted for so long was his father to acknowledge him, to love him, to at least _pretend_ that he cared enough about him to show up when Adrien asked him to.

There were times when Marinette hated Adrien's father. As an aspiring designer, she idolized Gabriel Agreste and his work. As Adrien's friend and girlfriend, she despised how he treated his son. Adrien deserved so much better than _him_ as a father. She hated that someone she looked up to turned out to be such of a letdown. Her papa had been more of a father figure to Adrien as of late and she had not forgotten his initial uncertainty when presented with genuine paternal affection.

But neither of them ever, _ever_ wanted him dead.

* * *

 **oh me oh my it seems Gabe has to die**

 **If ffnet is like it always was, all of you who commented on the last chapter won't be able to do the same to this new version. So come yell at me on tumblr at wintermoth. If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	56. Cinquante Six

Those **of you who bother checking out my tumblr from time to time will be in the know, but for the rest of you - especially those of you yelling/demanding updates - I've been working at a summer camp for nine weeks. In the woods. On a mountain. With poor wifi. Updating this story was pretty low on my list of priorities and the yelling and whining did jack to motivate me. (That's not to say all the reviews were like that, of course, and I greatly appreciate all the kind ones that weren't just about me needing to update soon :3)  
**

 **I didn't _abandon_ this story and, for the record, people, don't send messages to authors fretting about a story being abandoned when it's only been a few weeks since the last update -_- It's annoying as hell.**

* * *

The Guardians slumped on the pristine white couch, staring blankly at their kwami. They couldn't handle this, couldn't even begin to process it.

"I told you near the beginning that I would explain when you were older," Tikki reminded Marinette softly. "Because I didn't want you to carry this burden."

Plagg had never mentioned anything like it but, then, Adrien had no one in his life he wanted to tell. As much as he hated the kwami keeping secrets, he could understand why they had kept this one. Just thinking about it now made him feel sick.

"Can you imagine how you would have struggled just a year ago knowing what would happen if someone discovered your secret?" Tikki went on.

"I won't kill him," Marinette protested. "I can't."

"I can't," Adrien echoed numbly. "He's my father…I can't… I won't. Don't make me. Please don't…"

"I would never force you to kill your father," Plagg promised him. "But he cannot be allowed to live with this information. That's why I revealed myself."

"We have the ability to erase human memories involving us—and, by extent—our Miraculous." Tikki explained. "We usually only ever do it when a prospective Guardian refuses the offer but—"

"We're willing to try it on him."

"But it's not foolproof. We're going to have to erase dozens of memories from across several years, including the first time he made the connection between your ring and the book."

"So he doesn't have to die?" Adrien whispered.

"If we are successful, no." Plagg assured him.

"But if it doesn't, if he remembers…. We must reach out to Firefly." Tikki bowed her head. "He will understand why you could not kill your own father but he will not forgive you if you try to keep it a secret. Neither will any of the others. They may even try to kill you as a precaution."

Marinette stiffened. "No."

"It's happened." Plagg said quietly. "One of Adrien's predecessors killed one of the Owl's hosts for the same crime."

"We are truly sorry," Tikki murmured.

"But how can you erase so many memories and expect him to be okay?" Marinette asked. "He'll be confused, disoriented…."

The kwami looked at each other and Tikki said, "That's the price of our mercy. I don't know what will become of him after this but it is the only way he can be left alive."

"You have to decide quickly, Adrien," Plagg warned. "There is a chance Papillon has already targeted him and if he's taken, kiss your secret identities goodbye."

Adrien tensed and Marinette gasped. He hated this so much. How had such a good day gone so wrong so suddenly? He literally held his father's life in his hands. There was so much he didn't understand now and he wanted, more than anything, to sit down and let his father explain what he had done these last few years to bring him to this moment. But if he understood correctly then his father had untold knowledge of the Guardians in his head; names, powers, details on the bonds they shared. He knew more than Adrien himself probably did.

So many memories. There probably wasn't a day in the last few years where he did not think of the Miraculous even once. How far back, how deep, how precise would they be? What was going to happen to his father with that many holes in his memory? What would become of his company? How much of _Adrien_ would he remember?

Death or the unknown?

Or…or neither. Adrien _could_ try to keep him secret, convince his father to take his knowledge to the grave.

He didn't know the other Guardians beyond the three who'd been in Paris so far but if they all believed in a rule like this to protect themselves and their secrets then they surely would not allow him to live. And they would likely not forgive Adrien for allowing him to run around with so much knowledge. It was his father's life or his.

 _And Marinette's,_ he realized and looked down at his partner, his Lady. If he did nothing, she, too, would be at risk.

As if sensing his thoughts, Marinette placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm with you whatever you decide," she promised.

Adrien closed his eyes. "I want to speak to him alone first…but then you can erase his memories."

"Adrien…" Plagg cautioned.

"I need to know, Plagg." He looked at his kwami beseechingly. " _Years_ ' worth of work and research to get him this far, _someone_ should know what he went through. And I— _I_ _have to_ _understand_. I might never get another conversation with him like this again."

For a long moment, no one moved. Both kwami considered him. Then Plagg nodded. "One hour but that's it. If there's an akuma, transform immediately. Deal?"

"Deal."

"I'll wait in here, if that's okay," Marinette offered. He nodded gratefully.

* * *

When Adrien was six years old, he skinned his knee while trying to climb a tree in their yard. He hadn't made it very high and the fall hadn't hurt him, but the scrape of bark against tender skin had been unforgiving. The small boy sat on the ground and wailed his little heart out as children often do when they are hurt and are certain the world is ending.

It was his father, not his mother, who came running at the sounds of his distress. He found his son sitting beneath the tree, crying big fat tears while holding his knee. Blood trickled down his leg from the ugly wound. The little boy looked up at his papa imploringly and cried harder.

Gabriel scooped him out of the dirt and carried him inside to comfort and bandage him. He never once said a word about the mess that was made of the expensive jacket he wore. He did not baby him in the way his mother would have while cleaning the wound but he did not scold his son either.

"I told you not to climb trees," Gabriel said.

"I-I-I knoooow," Adrien sniffled.

"Do you understand why now?"

"Y-y-yes."

"If I tell you to do something or to not do something it's because I know what's good for you…"

* * *

"… _I only want you safe, son."_

Now, nearly twelve years later, father and son stood in the same room with their roles thoroughly reversed. Gabriel sat behind his desk with tears in his eyes, staring wordlessly at Adrien who stood a few feet away.

Adrien swallowed thickly. "Dad?"

"Four years, Adrien," Gabriel croaked. "Four years of my life have been devoted to researching, to scouring the world, for information on these powers. Three years spent frustrated that two wielders were living within the same city as me yet were unreachable and were not what I needed. Two spent knowing one of them lived under my own roof…and a god. I have travelled the world, spent countless hours seeking, translating, and even praying. I just wanted my wife back. I wanted you to have your mother. I wanted us to be whole again."

He looked at his son beseechingly and Adrien shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Was it crazy? Was I a fool for chasing after ancient legends instead of allowing myself to heal? Should I have just accepted her disappearance like everyone else?" He shook his head. "I suppose the answer to all three is yes but I—I couldn't. She was just gone. She would never have left you. Me, perhaps, but not you—she loved you more than anything. I cannot accept that, even now. I thought, perhaps, if the stories I had heard were true…that it might be possible. And now, after all of that time and effort spent…only to be denied without even getting the chance to make my case."

"I'm sorry," Adrien murmured. "I want to help you, Dad. You know I would give anything to see Mom again but this—this isn't the way. …Now we only have an hour."

Gabriel was quiet for a full fifteen seconds and Adrien forced himself not to fidget while his father considered him. "What happens in an hour?" he finally asked hoarsely.

Adrien ducked his head. "No one—no outsider is allowed to know what you know. I—apparently, it's a rule."

Humor flitted across Gabriel's face. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No!" he blurted out, horrified. "Never! …But you can't…they won't let you remember."

"Your gods?"

"Kwami," Adrien corrected. "They're called kwami. They're going to erase your memories of everything related to them or our Miraculous."

Gabriel paled. "But…that's…years of my life…"

"I know." Adrien bowed his head. "And I'm sorry but I don't want to lose you, too. And if we don't do this then—then we have to call in Firefly or another Guardian and—"

"They'll kill me," Gabriel finished, nodding. "I see." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So that's it? Years of my life spent only to end up here?"

Adrien swallowed and licked his lips. "There's no other choice."

"I could run."

Adrien's eyes widened in alarm but his voice was strangely even when he replied, "I'd have to stop you." Simple, fact. If his dad ran, he would stop him. "If we don't do this, if you try to run and I let you, basically any scenario where I let you keep what you know, it could end up with Marinette and I dead. And I _can't_ let that happen. I have to protect her. Y-you said you read the whole book, right?"

"Every word, painstakingly translated three times over to ensure accuracy."

"Then you know about the Three? I mean, um, the rules we have to obey; our code?"

Gabriel thought about it for a moment. "Your power, your kwami, your partner?"

"Miraculous, kwami, partner," Adrien recited mechanically. "Before everything else, even my family. If—if Papillon himself appeared with Mom and forced me to choose between her and Marinette, I'd have to pick Marinette. Just like she'd have to pick me over her mom."

"Stop. I understand." His expression was bitter and full of contempt but, thankfully, Gabriel did not press the issue. "Funny how nowhere in that blasted did it say that the price of its knowledge was death."

"Perhaps the author didn't know," Adrien suggested. Without waiting for permission, he pulled out the chair in front of his father's desk and sat down. "I'm guessing that book wasn't meant to be read by outsiders. Too late now, though."

Gabriel stared at his son intently for a long minute. "I know I don't have the right…but could I ask you something?"

Adrien nodded.

"Did you know what you were agreeing to?"

He shook his head. "The only told us the basics, the Three, and promised to fill us in on the rest as we went. And they did, they did, but…."

"Do you know that you cannot have children?"

Adrien nodded. "And that I'm immortal, yeah. It was a bit of a shock, too."

"It was for me as well," Gabriel muttered. "Those times I pressured you about marrying and having children…I'm so sorry."

"Well, I am going to get married," he pointed out half-heartedly.

"To Marinette," his father said shrewdly. "Are you certain?"

"I won't ask her for a while but, yeah. I'm certain." Adrien smiled. "We've loved each other for years and we're going to be together for the rest of our lives already so…why not?"

Gabriel hummed. "I suppose any arguments I may have are trumped by the nature of your relationship. …And though I will not remember it tomorrow, I give you my full blessing for whenever the day comes."

Adrien's jaw dropped in surprise. Gabriel smiled warmly at him but his eyes were sad. "I know it may have seemed as if I did not care but, son, I promise you, these last few years have been spent trying to return your mother to you. So she could be there for your wedding, meet your bride-to-be. She would love Marinette, I know it."

There were tears in his eyes, he realized, and Adrien reached up to wipe them away. "Thank you. W-was there something else you wanted to ask?"

"Yes," Gabriel said seriously and leaned forward. "You're immortal now. The book said you would 'never leave your youth.' Does that mean you will stop aging at some point?"

Adrien nodded. "Sometime between twenty and thirty. Marinette, too."

"Then there will come a day when you can no longer stay in Paris or as yourself. That will be hard. You will have to disappear completely, you might not speak the language of where you go, and you might not be able to work. Have you thought of what you'll do then?"

"I…well…somewhat," he admitted. "We've been saving money, both of us. My modeling gigs and Marinette's funds from the last Jagged Stone cover she made. Plus, we're both studying English as much as we can. But we're still kids so there's not much else we can do yet."

"True. But perhaps I can. You're going to need more than just money. You'll need resources, contingency plans." Gabriel reached for a pen on his desk. "And if I won't remember this then you're going to need them somewhere that I won't notice they're missing."

A light went off in Adrien's head that sent him reeling. He wasn't sure what triggered it but suddenly he realized that the answer to every problem he'd been facing for weeks was now before him. And, more than that, a fourth option. A _chance_.

"Dad, wait! I—I think—hold on." He jumped up and yelled, " _Plagg, transform me!"_

There was a yelp from the floor above followed by a loud, drawn out yowl that grew steadily louder. Moments later, Plagg phased through the ceiling. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" he howled just before he disappeared into the ring. The transformation was as quick as ever, green energy racing across his skin and leaving his suit in its wake.

He gave himself a quick shake to adjust to the shift in sensations and weight. He opened his eyes and saw his father staring at him with something like awe and…pride?

"The Cat," he said.

Chat Noir grinned and bowed once. "In the fur."

"Actually it looks more like a synthetic leather material to me."

He was so keyed up and so beyond stressed that all he could do was dissolve into wheezing laughter while his father stared. At least until Ladybug slammed the door open and stormed into the room with the intent to kill for the second time that day. She took in the scene, a thunderstruck Gabriel behind his deck and Chat Noir on the verge of a breakdown, and shook her head in confusion.

Adrien let the transformation go and Ladybug followed suit hesitantly. He felt strangely detached as he explained the idea he'd had to save his father. It was crazy, absolutely crazy, and maybe he was grasping but it was a solution to a problem that every Guardian had probably faced by now and all the rest would face for sure. Nothing like it had ever been done, probably never even suggested, never mind _considered_. Though it was spawned from desperation, the kwami acknowledged the sensibility of the idea, and even more, they _supported it_. Now he had to pitch it to Jacob. And Aline, too, he supposed, although he didn't think she'd support Adrien's father being murdered either way. Surely they would agree with him. Adrien couldn't see how they wouldn't when they themselves had experienced the benefits of having someone with connections on their side.

But he wasn't naïve enough to believe that their support would be enough to save his father. This was huge. Game changing. Like the mandate for secrecy, this decision would require the support of _all_ the Guardians. It wasn't a solution yet but it would buy them time and that was good enough for Adrien.

* * *

Jacob took the news rather well. He'd panicked during the initial bomb drop but once Adrien explained that he hadn't revealed himself and that his father had found out on his own, Jacob calmed down and listened quietly. Aline said nothing the whole time even though he knew she must've been curious. She certainly hadn't been prepared for Jacob's reaction to the news. It was only after Adrien was done recounting the events of the reveal that she spoke.

"Why is this bad?" she asked. "So his Dad knows. Not the end of the world, right?"

"No, but, it's forbidden. Outsiders are not allowed to know our identities or our secrets, not ever," Jacob explained seriously.

"Why not?"

"Because our predecessors decided so a long time ago. It's been a rule for us since. There are some exceptions but this…" Jacob shook his head. "This isn't one of them."

"Oh," she murmured, pursing her lips. She glanced between the three older Guardians. "So…what happens now?"

Jacob sighed heavily, shoulders slumping forward. "You came to ask me to do it." It wasn't a question. Of course he wouldn't expect Adrien to do it himself.

"Do what?"

"No, actually, I didn't," Adrien replied. Jacob's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "No one's killing him," he went on quickly before Jacob could voice what he was undoubtedly thinking.

"KILL!?" Aline screeched, high enough to make them wince. "You're going to KILL HIS DAD?!"

"No!" Adrien repeated. "No one's killing him."

"Adrien…" Jacob began warningly.

"No, no, listen to me."

"WHY WOULD YOU KILL HIM?!"

"Ally, please," Marinette said and put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Calm down, okay? No one's getting killed. Adrien has an idea."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at Adrien. "Another idea?" he asked the boy sharply.

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, listen. Think about how you were before I stepped in. Just by having money and connections, I was able to get you two all of this." He gestured to the room. "But what about after? You have to leave eventually. What are you going to do when you leave? You've still got Aline to think about. Even if I gave you money to take with you, it'd run out eventually. And what about all the other Guardians? Don't you think they're all in a similar situation? Or have been or will be at some point?"

"I…suppose so," Jacob said slowly. "What are you getting at?"

"What if I told you that my Dad could get you two set up in another city when you're ready to leave? An apartment, all the documents you need, maybe even a job."

The elder Guardian's mouth closed so sharply that his teeth clacked. Adrien could see the wheels in his brain turning behind his eyes before he looked over his shoulder at Aline. His young partner was wide-eyed and uncertain, no doubt still caught up with the whole 'killing' thing that she, too, had been kept in the dark about thus far.

"How?" he asked flatly.

"Money goes a long way."

"No, I mean, who is your father? What is he?"

"He's the CEO and lead designer of a multi-billion-euro fashion company and one of the key faces of the industry," Adrien said with no small amount of pride. "He's got money, connections. He's prepared to make sure that Marinette and I will be able to survive once we have to set out on our own. He…he's willing to consider doing such a thing for you and all the other Guardians if you will consider it, too."

Jacob frowned at Adrien. "He doesn't want to die, you mean."

"Of course not. He's only in this mess because he was trying to bring my mother back."

"Well, that seems a bit over the top."

Adrien snorted. "My father invented over the top and made it fashionable."

Folding his arms, Jacob chuckled under his breath. "That aside, what you're suggesting, it would have to be for the rest of life. Something tells me a fashion designer wouldn't be too…keen on doing something like this."

"He isn't keen on losing half his memories from the last four years or dying, either," Marinette pointed out coolly. "What's your point?"

"I am simply…cautious. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a fucking brilliant idea, but it is novel only and there are far too many details which need to be worked out. We'd need to discuss it with all the Guardians."

"I know, I know," Adrien interrupted. "But I was hoping it'd be enough to…postpone judgement?"

Jacob frowned. "Perhaps. But what's to say he can be trusted in the meantime? Every minute he's left alive he is a risk to our safety."

"He's already proven himself trustworthy, though," Marinette pointed out. "He's known for years now and he never once said anything. Even Adrien didn't know that he knew."

"And more importantly, he knows that I'm in danger if he tells. He'll take it to the grave."

"One way or another, it seems," Jacob mused but he did at least appear to be considering their words.

Aline, on the other hand, didn't have any reservations. "Seems legit."

"Hah," Jacob exhaled. "Legit. Alright. I'll accept that. The others should, too. But if you want a chance at actually _convincing_ them of this crazy plan, we're going to need proof that your father can do what you claim."

Adrien furrowed his brow. "Proof…?"

"I'd like to meet him. I want to speak to him and see what he can do for us. If… he comes through, I'll speak for him when the time comes."

Adrien's knees went weak and his shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank you."

"But if he doesn't, I'll kill him myself."

* * *

 **:3c**

 **Come yell at me on tumblr. My url is wintermoth. If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	57. Cinquante Sept

"Adrien, my dude… _Eu sei que você não consegue entender uma única palavra do que estou te dizendo agora, mas seu pai tem problemas._ " Aline said matter-of-factly, staring at the depressing portrait towering over the foyer.

"I couldn't understand a word of that but you're probably right," Adrien replied.

"She said your father has issues," a melodious voice informed him and he glanced over his shoulder to see the little bat kwami, Nohxx, peeking over her shoulder.

Adrien snorted. "You have no idea."

Nohxx repeated what he'd said quietly in Portuguese and Aline sniggered.

Adrien lead them up the stairs towards his father's office. Marinette had gone home for the evening, having left earlier without informing her parents in her haste to reach him. He would've liked her to be with him for this in a show of unity but he didn't want to be the reason she got in trouble.

Aline said something under her breath and Adrien glanced at the kwami on her shoulder. "She can't believe you live in a place this big," he supplied helpfully.

"It's not as great as you'd think, not when you have to spend most of your life stuck in here," Adrien informed her with a bit of bitterness. Nohxx gave him an appraising look before repeating his words to his host.

Lummi, the bright yellow firefly kwami, looked at him in surprise from her perch on Jacob's shoulder. "Like a princess in a tower," she mused in that deep, feminine voice she had that didn't match her appearance.

That gave Adrien a pause but then he couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up within him as he realized how true her analogy was. Oh, man, good thing Marinette _wasn't_ here or he'd never hear the end of it. "Yeah," he replied, "Exactly. Then I went and upgraded to a knight."

"I'm not sure that's how the system works," she mused. "Nor am I sure why you ask us to trust a king who would lock his son in a tower."

"Well, technically, my house is called the Agreste Palace."

"Whoa hold on," Jacob interrupted. "Did you just say 'Agreste Palace'?"

"I did," he replied in English.

"…Your house is called the Agreste Palace?"

"Yep. It's called that on the local landmark brochures, too."

* * *

Gabriel Agreste was usually a figure to be reckoned with. Entering his office when he was seated behind the desk, Adrien often felt as if he was approaching his judge, jury, and executioner instead of his father. He knew from experience how his father's mere arrival could suck the joy out of a room and replace it with tension. The man exuded seriousness and demanded respect with every word and gesture. No one spoke down to him. No one ever treated him with anything less than the utmost politeness and respect and anyone who did never ended up well off. He could insult your sense of fashion, artistic abilities, taste in coffee, your mother, and you had to sit there and take it because a word from him could kill your career.

He also believed strongly in first impressions. It had taken months of work to get him to move past his first impression of Nino. He rarely offered second chances and, more often than not, once you fell from his good graces, there was no way back up. He was notorious for it.

But, of course, someone outside the fashion industry wouldn't know that.

"What kind of narcissistic asshole names their house a 'Palace'?" Jacob demanded the moment he entered Gabriel's office.

Adrien gave him a look of utter disbelief. This was the same man who'd bowed to him and Ladybug upon meeting them and had spoken courteously until they had all become comfortable enough with each other. Apparently, his proprietary didn't extend to outsiders. Or maybe he just couldn't believe how freaking extra Adrien's dad was. Either way, manners were clearly not happening.

Gabriel Agreste regarded the Guardian with a single, raised eyebrow, and folded his hands on his desk. "Hello, nice to meet you," he said in English.

"I know a man's home is his castle, but good God," Jacob went on.

"I don't believe that it's any of your concern," Gabriel replied coolly.

Jacob seemed to remember himself then and dipped his head. "Apologies. I was just…I do not understand rich people."

Adrien facepalmed. The sentiment was clearly mutual because Gabriel's eyes slid from the Guardian to his son and he raised his eyebrows. Adrien shrugged helplessly. "Father, this is the Firefly," he said after a moment. "Guardian to Light."

Lummi peeked over Jacob's shoulder and stared with wide, curious eyes. After a moment, she lifted her paw and waved in greeting. "Oooh, this is exciting," she said. "I've never spoken to a human like this."

Gabriel offered her a smile before his gaze turned to Aline. "Which would make you the Bat, Guardian to Darkness."

Aline stared blankly. "Uuuuhhh…my English is…bad." Nohxx murmured the translation to her and she nodded. "Oh, yes. I am. Hello."

His father's expression turned curious. "How old are you? What is your age?"

"Thirteen."

"So young," he murmured. "You're new to this?"

She nodded.

"And from what I've read, you're from Brazil?"

She hesitated, Nohxx murmured, and then nodded again.

"Where are your parents?" he asked, suddenly serious. "If I'm not allowed to know my son is one of you then I don't see how your parents can."

Aline looked up at Jacob helplessly. He motioned to her reassuringly. "Her parents are dead. When we met, she was hanging on the fringes of the foster system. To them, she's just another kid who slipped through the cracks and disappeared. Trust me, no matter what that book told you about us, she's better off with me."

"And you're both better off since my son stepped in. Tell me, how is her education going?"

"Like a buggy without a horse. Except for what Adrien's been doing to help her learn French."

Gabriel nodded curtly and glanced at Adrien. "I see. Though my son is highly intelligent, he should be focusing on his own studies and not someone else's."

"Dad!" Adrien snapped. If he tried to stop him from helping Aline—

"Therefore," Gabriel went on as if he hadn't been interrupted, "I think it would be beneficial all around if a tutor was hired instead."

"Wait what?"

"What?" Jacob echoed. "Tutor?"

Gabriel gave him a measured look. "I'm to be your…helper, am I not? One who arranges living situations and such things? You have a living arrangement for now so why not start with educating your adopted daughter?"

Jacob exhaled slowly. "Why not, indeed. But… _how_?"

"Leave that to me."

Aline, apparently sick of being left out of a conversation about herself, thrust her hand into the air impatiently to get the adult's attention. "What is a tutor?"

* * *

Exactly one week later, Aline's new tutor arrived at their hotel suite and was greeted by his enthusiastic new pupil. Somehow, Gabriel Agreste had managed to not only find but hire a private tutor fluent in Portuguese, French, and who was willing to teach her despite having no formal papers or background.

* * *

"So, how was your first day with your new tutor?" Ladybug asked when the three teenagers met up to patrol that night. Gabriel being in the know had proved beneficial in ways none of them had anticipated, such has his recent purchase of high end Bluetooth earpieces for all of them, with at least eight more ready to be distributed to any other Guardians who came along. Adrien had got them working with their communicators and now they could communicate while on the move and with their hands free. And Jacob was only one phone call away if he needed to be patched in.

" _Great!_ " Sombra chirped through the earpiece. " _His name's Felix. He's really serious but he's really smart. I can tell. I'm excited. My schools were all crap back home and I've never had a chance to learn one-on-one. This'll be great. Even if he has a stick up his ass. At least he doesn't look half bad,"_ she added mischievously. _"And y'know what? He was concerned about me."_

" _He what_?" Chat Noir demanded.

" _Yeah. Apparently, an underage Brazilian girl with no legitimate background and a 'brother' who looks nothing like her getting private lessons in a hotel is suspicious."_

"Oh God," Ladybug groaned. She had no idea what story Gabriel had spun to get the tutor but, clearly, he was going to need some practice before he got the hang of this. It was a wonder this Felix man hadn't called the cops.

" _But don't worry, I told him I was perfectly safe and he didn't need to worry about me. He might take a little more convincing but I think it'll be alright. He spent the rest of the day testing me to see where I am in different subjects. Obviously, I bombed the French history one but who gives a crap, right?"_

" _La Résistance_ ," Chat suggested.

" _Lol, who?"_

* * *

Sombra was far from the only one whose education had been addressed. Apparently, Jacob had told Gabriel that Adrien would benefit from proper bo-staff training or something because next thing Adrien knew, his father was asking if he wanted to have private lessons. It seemed like a good idea on the surface…but he had some reservations, especially about the private part. What if the instructor recognized his fighting style and figured out his identity?

Gabriel did not share these concerns. "I highly doubt you are capable of anything unique enough without your suit on to give yourself away. Or that decent forms and techniques would give you away _in_ it."

Adrien wasn't wholly convinced. Gabriel could see it.

"This does not have to be long term," his father reasoned. "You already have decent abilities but a trained instructor could help you refine them, as well as correct any bad habits you've developed. Plus, it would be useful to know how to fight without your suit on. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Pfft, I could teach him." Plagg interrupted, emerging from the trash can. "I know a thing or two about how to fight with a weapon that _dozens_ of my humans have had."

Gabriel gave the kwami a dry look. "I think if you were capable of properly instructing my son that you would've done it already. So either you are incapable or you are willfully negligent. Which is it?"

Plagg's eyes widened in disbelief. Adrien smothered a laugh. Now that he knew politeness would win him no favors from the kwami, his father had not hesitated to speak his mind to Plagg whenever the opportunity arose. And Plagg, completely unused to speaking with humans other than Guardians, had no idea what to do with that. Adrien relished every moment of it.

Jonas was 178 centimeters of pure muscle and skill and had more bojutsu awards than Adrien had from fencing back in the day. Twice as many, he'd say. For a fighter, Adrien thought that the man didn't have a very good poker face. It was clear from the moment that Adrien arrived at the gym where his lessons were to be held that Jonas was not expecting much out of him. After all, what could a rich, pampered model possibly know about combat with a staff? Adrien only cemented his suspicions within the first ten seconds of holding the training staff he'd been provided as years of habit sent him into a fencing pose to start.

Of course, it could just have been his own anxiety about the situation talking. All other reservations aside, Adrien had never had to worry about someone critiquing his fighting style before. Ladybug didn't count.

"This isn't a swordfight," Jonas told him.

"S-sorry," Adrien stammered, returning to a normal stance. "I've been a fencer since I was very little."

"Fencing, really?" Sensing approval brewing, Adrien nodded quickly and rattled off a few of his more notable awards and accomplishments in the sport. Jonas nodded slowly. "I don't know what most of those were, but it sounds like you know your stuff. So, let me ask you this: why the switch?"

Adrien shrugged. "Felt like learning something new. Fencing is fun but it's not as much as an offensive skill as it is a test of discipline."

"You want to be able to fight," Jonas realized. "Your father said something about defense."

"You need to be able to fight to defend yourself, right?"

"Not always, but I get what you mean. Alright then, let's start over. First thing I want you to do is forget everything you ever learned in fencing."

"Done."

* * *

Marinette thought there should be a rule against having more than one test on the same day. No, not a rule. A law _._ Make it illegal. _Vive les enfants de France._

A test in English and Maths. Back to back. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She needed to lay down and take a nap before patrol later that night or she was going to keel over and die on some rooftop, immortality be damned. She'd turned down Adrien's request to come over because she knew his presence would not be conducive to a serene napping environment since neither test had even come close to kicking his ass and he was as bright eyed and bushytailed as he'd been this morning.

Dumb cat.

Or maybe he wasn't the dumb cat at all, considering the situation, and she was the dumb bug.

Marinette groaned as she pushed the door to her room up and climbed in. She kicked the door shut unceremoniously with her foot and dropped her school bag onto the ground without ceremony. Tikki flew out into the open but for once didn't have anything encouraging to say. She smiled sympathetically at her young host and patted her cheek. Marinette rubbed the top of her kwami's head with her index finger then shuffled towards the ladder.

She nearly made it, too.

Someone cleared their throat.

Someone _not Tikki_.

Marinette spun around, wide awake and alert, and her eyes scanned the room for the other presence. She relaxed somewhat when she couldn't immediately see another human, which meant she didn't have an intruder in her room that knew her secret and would have to die or have their mind wiped, thank _God._ Her eyes were drawn in by the small bit of orange near her computer monitor, the gaudy color standing out amongst the complimentary pinks, whites, and blacks in her room.

It was a kwami. Deep orange with a white belly, a pair of round black ears on its head, two whisker-like feelers on each side of its face, and a long, thin, black-tipped tail. Black stripes covered its arms, legs, face, and probably its back, too, but unlike normal stripes, the kwami's had small bends and curves that made them resemble flames.

The kwami beamed at her, revealing two white fangs, and folded its paws in front of its abdomen. " _Konnichiwa_ , Ladybug," it greeted in a high trill and bowed politely.

"K-konnichiwa?" she greeted, unsure.

"Baagh!" Tikki squealed a split second later and was gone from Marinette's side in a blur of red. The new kwami trilled in delight and met her head on. They were blurs of color as they zipped through the air, first together in a little kwami glomp, then in streaks as the orange blur pursued the red around Marinette's room. The teenager watched them with wide-eyes. She hadn't been able to witness either kwami reunion Tikki had gone off to so far and she wondered if they were all like this.

Orange pounced on red and the kwami resumed their mid-air tussle but slow enough that Marinette could see them. A loud kittenish purr rumbled through the air from the newcomer and Marinette giggled quietly. She crossed the room and cupped her hands beneath the two kwami.

"Marinette!" Tikki chirped. "This is Baagh. The kwami of Fire."

Baagh blinked his golden eyes at her once then dipped his head. "Nice to meet you," he said, in French this time.

"And you," Marinette replied. "What are you doing in my room?"

"My Chosen is waiting for you above." He pointed at Marinette's ceiling. "She wishes to introduce herself to you."

Marinette sputtered for a moment. "How did she know where I live?!"

"She tracked your scent," he said simply.

"Oh." Now she just felt dumb. Of course, Fire was a tiger, tigers had excellent senses of smell. She knew that. "I guess I need to call Adrien. So much for my nap," she added to herself, sighing.

"Oh, if you would like us to come back, that won't be a problem." Baagh said quickly, flying up to her eye-level. "We don't wish to intrude; we were merely trying to make ourselves known to you before the public saw her."

"No, no," Marinette shook her head. "I'll go meet her. Don't worry. Are you hungry?"

Baagh looked her up and down once. "Forgive me, but you have similar features to the people in Japan. Are you of Japanese descent?"

"Chinese," she corrected.

"Ah, forgive me," he repeated and his tail drooped dejectedly. "So, you probably don't have any wasabi then?"

"Um…no."

"Shisho peppers?"

"Fresh out."

"Curry?" he whimpered.

Marinette shook her head. "You love spicy foods, don't you?"

"The hotter the better."

"I'm sorry, we really don't have anything like that," she apologized. "I think we have a few peppers downstairs but Mama will notice if they go missing."

The little kwami sighed. "Thank you for offering. You should go on; she's waiting for you." He added, pointing at her ceiling once more.

Marinette took a deep breath. Right. New Guardian. She pulled out her phone, sent a quick text to Adrien about what was happening, and then climbed up towards her bed and the glass door above it.

* * *

 **Fun fact: the Agreste mansion actually IS called the Agreste Palace. You're _welcome_.**

 **Come yell at me on tumblr at wintermoth If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	58. Cinquante Huit

***rolls up in here with a brand new Guardian***

* * *

The Tiger was small, less than a head taller than Marinette herself, slender, and a few piercings shy of being punk. She wore a lowcut, sleeveless purple dress which showed off lean, muscled arms, black leggings, and white boots. Part of the hair on the left side of her head was close cut while the rest was swept over to the right with the longest tips only just grazing her shoulder. A gold circlet perched daintily on her head and Marinette knew instantly that it was her Miraculous. Where common circlets would have designs of swirls and woven strands, the visible metal on hers had been worked into designs that resembled flames. Like Jacob, she appeared no older than twenty-five or so, and if her kwami hadn't been enough indication, she was clearly Japanese.

She rose from Marinette's lawn chair with the fluidity of her name sake and then, much like her kwami had done, placed her hands in front of her legs and bowed respectfully. "Good evening, Ladybug," she said in accented English. "I am Kasai Neko."

Feeling a bit foolish, Marinette returned the bow hesitantly, which seemed to amuse the older Guardian. "Hello," she replied in the same.

"I'm afraid I cannot speak French. Is your English well enough for us to talk?"

"It is. My—Chat Noir is coming, he speaks English, too. We should wait for him."

Kasai Neko nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry for intruding on your space but I was unsure how to contact you without accidentally announcing myself to the whole city."

"Baagh explained, don't worry, I understand." Marinette smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Marinette."

The elder Guardian shook her hand and returned the smile. "Eiko."

* * *

Adrien was ready to take off out his window when he suddenly reconsidered. His father had been…overwhelmingly supportive of this whole business. He must've known Adrien had been sneaking out and away from his bodyguard for years and yet never once even hinted at such knowledge because if he had, it would've been uncharacteristic for him to not take immediate action. He left for patrols through his window because it was convenient but things were different now. He could just as easily walk out the front door. There was no need to sneak, he'd just done it out of habit. If anything, sneaking out was the exact opposite of what he should do in this situation. His father not only deserved to know but _needed_ to know.

Instead, Adrien tucked Plagg into his pocket and hurried down the hall to his father's office. He knew his father would be busy; in the 'zone', on a phone call, or some other thing that Adrien would normally dread interrupting, but that didn't stop him from knocking on the door. Or from pushing it open without waiting for a response or quickly shutting it behind him.

Gabriel was on the phone. His eyes pinned Adrien in place and his brow furrowed. Then, to Adrien's great surprise, he spoke in to the receiver. "Forgive me, Monsieur, my son has something urgent to tell me. One moment please." He pressed the button to mute the call then lowered the receiver quickly. "I trust it actually _is_ urgent?"

Adrien nodded. "Marinette just text me. Another Guardian has arrived in the city."

He raised his eyebrows. "Which?"

"Fire. The Tiger. She's, uh, at Marinette's, actually. I don't know anything else yet."

Gabriel nodded. "Let me know as soon as you do. I will make the arrangements. Did you remember to grab a phone and Bluetooth for her?"

Whoops. "Oh, uh, no, I forgot," Adrien said. "Thanks."

"Thank you," his father replied, reaching for the button once more. "Good luck."

* * *

Tom Cat and Tigress stood on opposite sides of the small space, sizing each other up. If they had tails, they'd be in motion, though whether flicking or lashing, Marinette couldn't say. Their silent assessment of each other went on for a solid ten seconds before Eiko finally dipped into the same formal bow that she had given Marinette earlier. Adrien inclined his head in return.

"You done?" Marinette asked. Her boyfriend grinned toothily at her and she rolled her eyes. Cats.

"To business, then," Eiko said. "Lisitsa sent me, along with her greetings and a message. She knows that the… _hotaru_ and the bat are here, and says good job with your messages. She thinks they will be enough to draw the others in, except Life and Death. She's going to have to smoke them out but she thinks she knows where they are. She asks that if we manage to apprehend the Butterfly before their arrival that we detain him."

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other. She shrugged and nodded. "Works for us," he said. "We're not very big on the killing thing anyway and before you say anything!" he added when she opened her mouth. "We know. Morals are ever changing. This is the only way. It has to be done. We've heard it. Twice."

Eiko sighed. " _Hai._ Of course, I am here to help you as well. You need only tell me where, when, and how."

"Great." Marinette smiled. "Welcome to the team."

"We need a team name," Adrien mused as he reached into his pockets. From one he pulled the Bluetooth earpiece and from the other, a phone. "Keep these with you. The phone already has numbers for myself, Ladybug, Firefly, and Sombra in there."

Eiko stomped her foot. "Firefly! I forgot the word. Thank you."

"And as for this, it will sync to your communicator. We'll show you how later tonight, if you want. We have a group patrol, all four of us."

"And patrol will be…?"

"Running around the city, mostly. Officially it's to patrol for akuma but we mostly just use it as an excuse to hang out and occasionally stop some crime," Marinette explained.

Eiko nodded. "Where do we meet?"

"About that. Do you have a place to stay?" Adrien asked.

"I have enough money for a hotel but I was hoping to find a…apartment with a small…term of stay?" Her brow furrowed in frustration. "An apartment that does not need a year at a time?"

He nodded. "Alright. Do you have a hotel yet?"

"Yes, I have booked for one week so far."

"Okay. At the end of the week, we'll have somewhere else for you to stay."

"Y-you will?" She cocked her head to the side.

He nodded again. "Don't worry about it. Everything will be taken care of. We're going to be doing this for everyone who comes. Anything you need. A place to stay, food, clothing…we'll help. My family has money," he explained, "and resources that I'm putting to use. Think of it as a thank you."

Eiko was clearly shocked by his offer but nevertheless she nodded in agreement and bowed again politely.

* * *

Sombra contrasted more sharply with Kasai Neko than she did her own partner. Her hair was reddish brown and wild while Kasai's was black and smooth. Her ears were big and floppy; Kasais's ears were small and firm. Sombra's suit was mostly form fitting and practical for combat and fast movement; Kasai's was a kimono. Sombra's was made of dark browns and blacks, styled as if she were only wearing a dress and cape. Kasai's was a deep orange with black stripes and a light orange obi around her waist.

Kasai had a filter.

Sombra's came and went.

Kasai was sure to make a good first impression.

Sombra didn't care.

* * *

"Are you going to call me Sombra-chan?"

"Do you…want me to call you Sombra-chan?"

Sombra thought about it for a second and then nodded. "So, do I call you Neko-san or what?"

Clearing his throat loudly, Firefly stepped up behind his young partner. One hand covered her mouth and the other extended towards the new Guardian in greeting. "I'm Firefly, nice to meet you."

Kasai shook his hand and dipped her head. "And you."

* * *

The Tiger had not been an active Guardian for years, she explained as they slowly made their way across the rooftops of Paris. She had lived in Japan her whole life and was responsible for any trouble that arose on the islands. Being partner-less, both she and her kwami believed it would be safer if they stuck to familiar territory and let the other Guardians deal with the rest of the world. The result had been a very long life and many years of peace as she slowly migrated across the country.

" _How old are you?"_ Jacob asked curiously through the Bluetooth.

Kasai didn't answer for a moment. Ladybug couldn't see her from that point in the sky but she knew Jacob and Chat had stayed down below to guide the newcomer while she and Sombra took to the skies. _"I was born in…well, truth be told, I'm not sure what year exactly, but it was in Japan's Warring States period. So, I'm around five hundred years old, give or take a decade."_

Chat Noir whistled.

Sombra gasped. _"Whoa!"_

Ladybug's eyebrows shot towards her hairline. She knew Guardians were long-lived but… even Jacob's real age hadn't come as quite a surprise. A man from the American colonial days was a far cry than a woman from the Feudal Era. Black Cat and Mariquita hadn't even come close to her.

"What's it…like?" she found herself asking.

" _Long,"_ Kasai answered simply. Firefly agreed. _"Though perhaps not as long when there's someone to share it with."_

Ladybug smiled. Five hundred years with Adrien? She'd be alright with that.

* * *

The next time they saw Kasai, her suit was different. Her chest still had the overlapping top like her kimono-suit had, the obi remained as well as the stripes, but gone was the robe and its flowing sleeves. Her new suit was skintight, the stripes more numerous, and gave her much more freedom of movement than her more traditional garment had. Best of all…she had a tail. Long, orange, and striped, it poked out from beneath the simple knot in her obi and swished back and forth behind her.

"How did you make it change?" Chat Noir asked, his own tail flicking casually behind him.

"It's not that hard," Kasai told him. "Baagh and I decided what we wanted and he changed it for me."

In Chat's opinion, the new suit made her appear much more like a tiger before. He had nothing against traditional wear but apart from her ears and color scheme, there hadn't been very much about her that was catlike. Now, she would be able to prowl and sprint like the feline she was without struggling like she had last night.

He smirked. "And the tail?"

The tail twitched but apart from that, Kasai Neko didn't move for a solid five seconds. But Chat knew from the look on her face that she knew she'd been caught. "Good for balance," she replied flippantly.

"Mmmhmmm. Okay."

* * *

"Cats," Ladybug grumbled.

"Tikki…"

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me we can change our suits?"

"Oh. You never asked."

"Tiiiiikkiiiiiii!"

* * *

"What are you doing?"

"Designing a new suit."

"…Seriously?"

"Yep. …My suit looks like a onesie, Adrien. That might've been fine when I was younger but I'm nearly an adult. I need something better."

…

"Will you do me next?"

"…."

"…WAIT. I MEAN. UH. WILL YOU DESIGN ME A NEW ONE?"

…

"Is saying yes to both an option?"

* * *

And that was the story of how Adrien Agreste fucking died.

* * *

Once he recovered, they began discussing what he wanted his new suit to be like. Plagg chimed in as well. If he had to make the suit, he was going to have a say in it, end of discussion. Both Adrien and Marinette agreed that they wanted their suits to have more mature designs while still retaining aspects of the originals so that people wouldn't find the change too jarring. After all, most of the world still operated under the influence of the magic that protected their identities. Anyone who wasn't a Guardian was unable to retain memories of their physical features the moment they were no longer looking at them. Photos and videos of them were almost always blurred or distorted and those that somehow managed to come out clear, no one could quite describe anything defining about them. Just one of the multiple layers of defenses surrounding them and their identities.

Their suits were the only things about them that people could remember for any length of time. Change the suit too much and people could become mistrustful.

They spent two days going over design ideas and sketching them out. Or, rather, Marinette sketched and Adrien fetched snacks and massaged her neck and shoulders while she worked. Neither of them had been entirely sure _what_ they wanted going in but as the hours passed and designs were scrapped, they both began realizing they wanted very streamlined looks.

Marinette finished hers first. It was still one piece and, truthfully, she hadn't changed much, but the addition of a little black made all the difference. This new design made it seem as if she were wearing two layers, black and then ladybug print on top. Her collar was black and covered her upper chest, ending at a point near the tops of her breasts. From there her arms, shoulders, tops of her hands, and the rest of her chest were covered in ladybug print. When transformed, the areas on her chest and back with the print would appear reinforced, like the way areas on Chat Noir's suit did, a design element she'd always appreciated. The print extended in a cone shape down her front, ending in a rounded point at her naval. From there down it was black until mid-thigh where the ladybug print began again, giving the appearance she was wearing very high, angled boots.

Adrien's suit took longer. There were certain elements Adrien refused to part with—his bell, ears, and tail—and a few Marinette convinced him to do away with—such as the purely aesthetic cuffs around his wrists and ankles. From there, they only had to consider the three things Plagg would not allow to be removed—the belt, claws, and pockets—all of which he claimed were essential.

It wasn't until the following evening that they settled on a design. It was sleek, made of two shades of black, and would feature multiple metallic aspects. Like the original suit, it appeared to be one piece, still had a zipper along the upper body, a bell, clawed fingers, and a pair of pockets though they now sat on his hips. Long and thin, his tail was nearly identical to the original. The boots were now distinct, a shade or two darker than the rest of his suit, reaching almost up to his knees, and 'held together' by three metallic buckles on each. The tips of his boots were still silver, lined to resemble cat paws. She'd left the reinforced look on his shoulders, the same shade as the boots. It also had a pair of bracers on each arm which would go from his elbows to his wrists on the interior and cover the backs of his hands. The belt had become two, which criss-crossed his hips, meeting in the front and held together by a silver buckle, and again in the back, which was where his tail would emerge.

"We…are gonna look so badass," Adrien declared and gave his wonderfully talented girlfriend a kiss.

* * *

 **Eiko is pronounced "Ay-coh"**

 **Wanna see her suit? Wanna see LB and Chat's new suits? WANNA SEE EVERYBODY'S SUITS? Come check me out on** **tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	59. Cinquante Neuf

On March 8th, Sombra nearly face-planted into Alya's window. Only quick reflexes saved her face. The Ladyblogger shrieked in surprise, stared at the waving hero, then quickly locked her door and ran to the window.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Alya asked, torn between concern and shock.

" _Oh, sim. Estou bem,"_ Sombra replied, waving her off. Then she cleared her throat and said in accented but grammatically correct French: "I have a message from Ladybug for you."

Alya's eyes widened. "Okay."

Sombra held out a piece of paper and Alya took it, unfolding it carefully. Written in an intentionally messy script: _Eiffel Tower, 12:00._ Signed with Ladybug's signature mark.

Alya looked at the clock. 10:15. She looked at Sombra. "What happens at 12?"

The hero furrowed her brow and frowned. "I…do not… Listen the message. Please. It is a good…a good…message." With that, she pushed off from the wall and flew away.

* * *

At some point between 10am to 11am, every single news outlet received the same notice. Some were delivered by messenger bat, the rest received phone calls, but by the time 11:55am came around, every single media outlet of note had a representative waiting below the Eiffel Tower. No one knew why they'd been contacted and no one knew what to expect, only that Ladybug wanted them to come.

At exactly noon on the upper levels of the tower there were two simultaneous flashes of light, one red and the other green. A moment passed. Then a black figure leaped from the tower. People pointed and screamed, cameras flashed, and Alya C _é_ saire wondered if Chat Noir got a bigger kick from stunts or dramatics. Ladybug shot out from the tower in a blur of red and pink, catching her partner before he even made it close to the ground, and they both shot towards the crowd below. They were about twenty meters away when Alya realized something had changed.

Ladybug let go of Chat at the last second and they landed side by side in such a way that would've had Deadpool in stitches. Then, straightening up, they revealed their new suits to the world.

Alya wasn't the only one who screamed.

Next came Sombra, same as ever, followed by Firefly. They landed together, standing just behind and to the left of Chat Noir. They at least had no physical changes to them but rather seemed to have come just as a show of support or to present a united front.

And, then, to everyone's utter amazement, came a fifth figure in orange. She landed in front of the ground on all fours, head cocked, and tail curled upward behind her. Masked, covered in orange and black stripes from head to toe…a tiger hero. She rose to her feet, cocked her hip, bared her teeth in a feral grin, and raised one hand in greeting.

* * *

News of the new arrival spread across the city like wildfire. Within minutes, most of the city was aware that yet another hero had surfaced to fight alongside Paris's own. But not everyone was excited.

* * *

"Oooh, a fire akuma. Haven't had one of those in a while," Ladybug commented. Chat Noir cracked his knuckles. The prospect of another battle used to fill them with at least some apprehension, more so if the akuma had a dangerous ability that put those around it at risk of more than just enslavement. Akuma who messed with the weather or elements, for example, were usually high on the anxiety scale. All it would take was one mistake and they'd have another dead victim on their hands.

Last week, they would have been rushing to challenge the akuma and get him or her off the streets as soon as possible.

Today, however…

"I think he's _challenging_ me!" Kasai Neko laughed out loud, betrayed only by the agitated lashing of her tail. All present were inclined to agree. What were the odds that the very hour that the Guardian of Fire made her first public appearance, a pyrokinetic akuma would just so happened to be unleashed?

The four Guardians stood together in the middle of the deserted street, seven blocks away from an akuma with cracked skin like hardened lava and flaming hair. Fortunately, the akuma had neither noticed them nor seemed intent on arson, apart from his initial outburst, meaning that the villain was probably on the way to somewhere specific. Once that happened, sparks would fly and they would have to work quickly. Or…they would have in the past. But now they had the Guardian of Fire on their side, at full strength and eager for a fight after so many years of inactivity.

"He's definitely challenging you," Firefly agreed. "You are an enigma."

Ladybug hummed uncertainly. "I think it's more than that. You're partner-less, just like him. I bet he wants to see how well you can do without your other half."

Kasai snorted. "I never had another half. I've always been one whole. And he's a fool if he thinks my own element will defeat me."

"He's not a fool," Chat warned her. "Royally screwed up in the head, maybe, but no fool. If he wanted to beat you, he'd have sent water. He wants to see how strong you are."

"Hmmm. Interesting theory. I like it." Kasai reached behind her and pulled her weapon, a long, thin bow, from her back. "But if that's the case, what do you say we fuck up his little plan?"

Sombra rubbed her hands together. "I am a master of fucking things up. Just say the word."

"Language," Firefly scolded. Sombra stuck her tongue out at him. He regarded her with a dry look. "But she is a pro at it," he added flippantly.

"And so am I." Chat Noir's tail whipped from side to side. "So, how do we do this, my Lady?"

Ladybug twitched in surprise and glanced at him, then at the other three Guardians who were all looking at her expectantly. Waiting for her direction. She blinked quickly and swallowed, licking her lips as she fumbled to come up with a plan. All the while, the akuma moved further and further away.

"We need to slow him down," she finally said. "Water will be the best way."

Sombra nudged Chat's arm. "You get the water. I'll get the akuma."

" _We'll_ , get the akuma," Firefly corrected.

"What would you have me do?" Kasai Neko asked.

"The akuma is going to fight back. There's a chance none of us will be able to get close to them without getting burned. If that's the case, you're going to have to go in and get the object from them." Ladybug said.

"And what is the object?"

Ladybug unfurled her wings. "I'll figure it out when we get closer. For now, I need you to be ready to put out any fires he starts in the surrounding buildings and get people out if you have to."

Kasai Neko nodded. "Understood."

Ladybug nodded, too, and took a deep breath. "Alright, team…um, team…"

"We need a naaaaame," Chat Noir lamented for the umpteenth time that week. "And something other than Guardians," he added, since that suggestion had already been made three times by Firefly. "Something that _doesn't_ give away the secrets, sounds cool, and we can use anywhere." No one said anything and he sighed loudly. "C'm _on_ people. I know we're not exactly the most creative bunch with our own names but—"

"Team Miraculous!" Sombra blurted out suddenly, ears standing straight up. She looked from face to face eagerly. "Y'know, 'cos we all have Miraculouses…?"

Kasai Neko shrugged, Firefly bobbed his head from side to side, both considering but not agreeing. Sombra frowned.

"Team Miraculous," Chat Noir repeated slowly, nodded. "Okay. I can dig it. Team Miraculous." He thrust his arm into the air. "We are Team Miraculous."

"Alright, then, Team Miraculous!" Ladybug's wings began to flutter and she lifted off the ground. "Let's go kick some butt!" She thrust her fist into the air, mirroring her partner, then took off.

"WOO!" Sombra screamed and leaped into the air. Wings of light exploded from Firefly's back and he followed after her. Chat lunged forward on all fours and Kasai, bow in hand, followed him on two.

For the first time in centuries, if not millennia, five Guardians went into battle as one.

* * *

Alya Cesaire (recording the fight from far too close to the action in everyone's opinion) spent the entire time crying tears of excitement.

* * *

This time last year, an akuma like Allume Feu would've taken an hour or more to defeat and would've required a thorough _Miraculous Ladybug_ to restore the city.

A week ago, Allume Feu would've taken half an hour, maybe 45 minutes depending on how quickly they'd been able to get a stable source of water.

With Kasai Neko on their side, the fight was over within a matter of minutes. The ease with which they disposed of him was almost laughable. Though it was their first time fighting together, the five of them were able to carry out their parts of the plan with minimal difficulty. The curse object was snatched, the akuma neutralized, butterfly purified, and city repaired in under ten minutes.

Chat Noir slung his arm around his Lady's shoulder and smirked. "How much you wanna bet that butterfly bastard is shaking in his boots right now."

Ladybug chuckled at the mental picture but inside she knew that the fight had probably had the opposite effect. If anything, now he was going to be even more determined to bring them down. But this raised a new, arguably more important question.

Just how far was Papillon willing to go?

* * *

"Pretty far, I'd say," Plagg responded. Adrien and Marinette sat on his couch with their respective kwami on their knees. "I mean, the guy chased us across the planet for a hundred years."

"But he never attacked the others," Tikki pointed out, "which is the point I think Marinette is trying to make?" The little god glanced at her host for confirmation then continued. "Up until today, one could argue his recent attacks had been as they have since we began here and that Sombra and Firefly merely got involved, but today was different. He sent an akuma after the Tiger specifically."

"We _think_. It'd be hard to prove it."

"We don't need to prove it," Adrien pointed out. "There's enough evidence already."

Plagg shrugged. "Alright. I agree with you, anyway. Considering who she is, I can understand why he'd seek to challenge her specifically."

"So…at what point do we consider this an offensive against the rest of the Guardians instead of a vendetta against us?" Marinette asked.

"Today, I think," Tikki said. "But I'm not certain it matters either way. The man is already marked for death as it is. The real question is: what is he going to do now? Surrender or continue to fight?"

Plagg huffed, tail lashing once. "He won't surrender. Nurru won't, either."

"We should give them the chance, I think," Marinette said.

* * *

"Hah!" Jacob laughed humorlessly. "You really think he'll surrender? You said it yourself, the man is deranged. Corrupted."

The five Guardians and their kwami were gathered in the suite Jacob and Aline shared, a day after Allume Feu's attack. Sombra alone sat transformed so she could understand without having to rely on Nohxx whispering in her ear.

Perhaps it was too soon to be thinking of such things, what with only half their number present, but Marinette knew that she had to at least get the idea out there. There was no point in waiting for all twelve surviving Guardians to be here if they could end this madness sooner.

"I know," Marinette said with a sigh. "But we have to try. If there's a chance we can end this sooner then we have to take it."

"I agree," Kasai said. "His…anger has been allowed to continue for long enough."

Marinette nodded. "We offer him the chance to surrender and if he doesn't take it, we take him down."

"Put the ball in his court," Adrien added. Jacob didn't seem convinced.

"I think…we need wait," Sombra said in English. "If he…give up…no…." She gritted her teeth in frustration. "He not…we…."

"Speak Portuguese, Ally," Marinette suggested. Sombra huffed once then said something long in her language. When she was done, the kwami nodded to themselves and Lummi spoke up.

"She says we need to wait until the Elephant and the Mouse arrive," the kwami of Light explained. Sombra nodded. "Because there is a third outcome you didn't consider. He can give up without surrendering to us. If he does that, he could disappear, escape his punishment, and go on to do who only knows what."

"A human that far gone cannot be saved," Baagh concurred. "Only Nurru."

Plagg growled softly. Tikki drifted closer and entwined one of her antenna with his. "That is debatable," she replied stiffly. "But I agree with both Marinette and Aline. We should give him a chance to surrender, if only to minimize the potential disaster a final fight with him could cause, but not until we are prepared to capture him should he refuse."

Jacob nodded. "I'd back that."

Marinette looked at Adrien. He'd kept quiet on the subject for the most part, simply agreeing with her thus far. As she expected, he nodded quietly in agreement but didn't comment.

* * *

Adrien spent the night snuggled up with Marinette while she slept peacefully beside him. He tried without success to fall asleep for hours but his mind was simply too active for him to properly rest. He finally gave up around midnight and contented himself to watch her sleep while his mind ran over everything bugging him for the millionth time.

In short, he was worried.

Worried about his team, worried what Papillon would do next, worried about his father and how Eiko would react when she found out. So far, she had seemed nothing short of pleased by his father's work, thinking it had been Adrien to arrange her stay in a long-term hotel nearby, but that could change on a dime. He was worried that his father would be killed sometime in the next few months and that he'd have to let it happen. But most of all, he was worried about Marinette.

He nuzzled her temple and sighed softly.

He loved her so much. She was the best part of his life. Now that things were better at home, she wasn't necessarily his main reason he got out of bed every morning but, damn, he doubted he'd be getting out of bed sometimes if he _didn't_ know she'd be waiting for him outside. She was his love, his support, his inspiration. He didn't know what he'd do without her. He was _terrified_ of losing her and the knowledge that he could before all this was over was enough on its own to keep him up at night.

But today, listening to her and the others go back and forth about granting Papillon mercy, he had been struck with the realization that the end was almost in sight. In a year, Papillon would likely be gone and assuming he kept himself and Marinette alive, they would be _free._ Well, in a sense. Papillon's defeat would not free them from their duties as Guardians, only provide them a temporary reprieve to continue with their lives.

Along with the realization that the end was coming came another: Adrien had no idea how to live without the threat of Papillon hanging over them. Before Papillon, he had been an ordinary human. A mortal child trapped in a gilded cage with only a fellow caged bird to give him insights to the outside world. But now he was almost an adult, he had a girlfriend, the door to his cage had been opened, and he had no frame of reference. Most of his life now revolved around his duties as a Guardian. What would he do when patrols were no longer necessary? When he didn't have to be prepared to drop everything at a moment's notice and rush into battle? When he and Marinette could just be…normal?

Movement caught his eye and they flicked to the small red kwami floating over the edge of the bed. He watched her silently make her way up the length of Marinette's slumbering form. Tikki hovered over her face for a moment, watching Marinette sleep, then smiled briefly at Adrien, and flew back down to the main area of the room to the nest she often shared with Plagg.

Sometimes he wondered how the kwami viewed them. Were they just hosts to them? No, of course not. Plagg might be an emotionally stunted little shit ninety-five percent of the time but he rarely saw anything but genuine affection from Tikki towards Marinette. Like just then, for no real reason, Tikki had come to check on Marinette, as if she were her mother. Though, at the same time, he had experienced firsthand how the kwami were willing and able to ignore his and Marinette's emotions and feelings when it suited them. It was confusing to be sure. Yet now that most, if not all, of the secrets were out, he hadn't seen a single sign of that behavior.

How could one be normal with a tiny god bonded to them?

Adrien sighed.

He knew they could never abandon their duties. Though once it had seemed like a solution, an escape, they knew now that it was no such thing. There was no escape except through death and that was simply not an option. But, surely, in time, they would have their own version of normal. Even if it was a normal that only ten people in the world would ever understand.

Marinette's eyes twitched beneath their lids. Dreaming. Like he should be. Adrien sighed again.

* * *

As tired as he was, waking up to Marinette's smile in the dim morning light was worth it.

"Bonjour, mon amour," she murmured and nudged her nose against his.

That, too.

* * *

 **Sombra's in that weird phase where you know juuust enough words to make basic sentences in the new language but nowhere near enough to actually get your point across. The struggle is real.**

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	60. Soixante

**ALERT, ALERT: SEASON 2 IMMINENT.**

* * *

As a consequence of his ever-increasing Guardian duties of late, on top of his regular schedule, Adrien didn't realize that he'd been severely neglecting his best bud until Nino insisted on hanging out after school. To be fair, he saw Nino all the time _at_ school and they would hang out with Marinette and Alya throughout the day unless there was a lunch date or something. But one-on-one best friend time had been non-existent.

Not that he could really call Nino his best friend any more…as much as he hated to admit it. Nino was a great friend and an amazing human being but he—he was mortal. He was an outsider. No matter what, Nino would never truly be able to connect with him. Adrien would never be able to share more than half of himself with him. One day, he'd have to abandon him and cut off contact and unless they did something crazy like faking their deaths, Nino would never know why. Adrien hated that.

Of course, Adrien also hated that he'd been so distant.

"Don't sweat it, dude," Nino said when Adrien apologized. "I'm pretty busy, too, and I don't have someone dictating my schedule every minute of the day."

His schedule had lightened _considerably_ now that Gabriel wasn't hiding that he knew about Chat Noir. The photoshoots had dwindled down to almost nothing. He was still taking bo-staff lessons with Jonas and he'd improved considerably in a short time. Apart from these two, the only other things occupying his schedule were school, required study time, and sleep. The rest of his time was spent with other Guardians, Marinette, or just by himself. …But Nino didn't need to know that.

"Lycée's rough," Adrien finally sighed.

Nino huffed. "Yeah, man. But you know what's worse? My Mom found out I don't plan on going to university."

Adrien nodded slowly. He'd suspected for a while that Nino wouldn't want to. It wasn't that his friend wasn't smart, he just wanted to be a DJ. Last time Adrien checked, there wasn't a major for DJs. "What did she say?"

"She thought it was the stupidest decision I'd ever made. Not that she actually _said_ that, but it was implied, y'know?"

Adrien winced. "Ouch. Maybe you should consider it? I mean, realistically, you can't expect to be a DJ for the rest of your life. Maybe something like…business management could be useful?"

"Is that what your Dad is making you take?"

"Actually…we haven't discussed it," Adrien admitted. "I want to go for science. I wouldn't be surprised if a business degree wasn't part of the terms of my inheritance." Of course, even if it had been at one point, he knew his father would never force something like that on him anymore. His father hadn't come out and said it but Adrien suspected that he viewed being a Guardian as a terrible fate. Adrien wouldn't agree but he hadn't been a Guardian long enough to disagree either. If nothing else, it seemed that he was trying to make Adrien's life as easy as he could. It was a far cry from what he'd been like before but Adrien wasn't complaining.

Nino snorted. "Yeah, me either. But I don't know. I don't think I'd enjoy something like that. None of the common majors seem appealing. The only degree program that ever looked interesting to me was in _America_ and, hah, yeah, that isn't happening."

"Why not?" Adrien asked. "Apart from Alya, I mean."

Nino gave Adrien The Look. Part glare, part annoyance, part disbelief, Nino reserved this particular expression for when Adrien did or said something that made his wealthy and prolific upbringing evident. It was usually followed by a learning experience for him, sometimes accompanied by an intense bout of questioning his life and priorities. Back in collége, Adrien would get The Look about once a day.

" _Ain't nobody got money for that_!" Nino exclaimed in English and Adrien was about ninety percent sure his friend had just used an out of date meme.

* * *

For most of his Guardian career, Adrien tried very hard to keep the two halves of his lives separate, the sole exception being Marinette and the occasional contact with Alya. For the most part, Adrien dealt with Adrien things and Chat dealt with Chat things. His father's revelation had mucked that up spectacularly but even now there were certain parts of Adrien's life that never mixed with Chat's life.

Nino was one of those parts. Aline was another. Both were his friends but neither had met and Adrien never had any intention of introducing them.

So when Adrien invited Nino back to his house for a snack and a round or five on his DDR machine, he was most certainly not expecting Aline to be outside the gate when they arrived. It took all of Adrien's willpower to not freeze when he spotted her standing in front of the call box, speaking to the camera. Instead he kept walking despite the sudden chill in his veins. No need to panic, he reasoned. Maybe this wouldn't end badly. Maybe she'd see he had a friend, an outsider, with him and leave. Maybe she'd put on an excited fangirl act and he'd be able to kindly brush her off. There was no reason to worry that Nino would recognize her or make any sort of connection between a random teenager who couldn't speak French, Adrien, and any of the Guardians.

"Who's that?" Nino asked, staring straight at her.

"Uh," Adrien said dumbly.

Aline turned and her expression lit up immediately. "Adrien!" she turned back to the call box. "It is okay. Adrien is here." She darted towards them. "Adiren!"

Adrien refused to look at Nino and took a deep breath, steadying himself. He couldn't be angry at her. He wouldn't be. She hadn't done anything wrong and she hadn't known he'd be with a friend. He saw the exact moment she realized Nino was there. The excitement dimmed and he saw panic flash across her face. Though quick as it had arrived it was gone and her chipper expression was back. But she stopped and waited for them to reach her.

"Óla!" she greeted when they were within talking distance. "Is friend?" she asked curiously.

Nino looked dumbfounded. "Am I friend? Are you friend?"

Aline nodded. "Adrien is friend. My friend."

"Nino, this is Aline. Aline, Nino. Her older brother is here on business with my father and she came with him," he explained to Nino. "She's a bit hyper and she doesn't speak French or English very well. I've been helping her learn French."

Nino gave him a shrewd look. "No wonder you never have any free time."

"I do not understand." Aline said bluntly.

"Sorry," Adrien apologized. "What's up?"

"I want to know if you help with… _thing_." She glanced at Nino hesitantly and Adrien knew it probably involved them being Chat Noir and Sombra. "But friend here. I…phone…tonight."

"Alright," Adrien said. "I'll text you later when I'm free. Okay?"

Aline's brow furrowed and she took a few moments to puzzle out what he meant before finally shaking her head. "I do not understand."

"I'll text you, on the phone, when I can help you." He held up his hands and mimed texting.

Her expression cleared and she nodded excitedly. "Okay. Bye. Good…" she trailed off and huffed in exasperation. She thrust her hand out towards Nino. He smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, Aline."

"Nice to meet you," she repeated.

"How are you two friends if you can barely talk?" Nino asked curiously when they were in his room. "And what language does she speak?"

"Portuguese. There was a translator present when we met but mostly we rely on Google," Adrien replied. Thankfully, Nohxx and Plagg were much better than Google. "She's a good kid. Marinette loves her."

"How old is she?"

"About thirteen, I think." Adrien paused as if thinking about it. "I'm just guessing. But I know Marinette and I are her only friends here."

"You should invite her along the next time the four of us hang out," Nino suggested. "Alya would probably like her."

Adrien made a face. "The thought of Alya and Aline together actually terrifies me. But I'll ask her." He would do no such thing, of course, but Nino would get suspicious if he said that.

* * *

" _I'm sorry,"_ Sombra apologized over the phone. _"I didn't know you'd have someone with you. I tried to text you but you didn't respond."_

"Yeah, I see them. I'm sorry, I don't usually carry this phone around."

" _He didn't…figure us out, did he?"_

"Who, Nino? Nah. He's not like that. We'd probably have to transform in front of him for him to figure it out. Alya, on the other hand, well, she might. I don't know. Which is why you're going to have to be careful from now on."

" _Don't worry. I won't go near him again if I can help it. I'm sorry."_

"You didn't do anything wrong," he reassured her. "I'm not mad, alright? Now, what did you need help with?"

" _Homework,"_ she admitted sheepishly _. "But I don't know the word for it."_

He laughed. "So, you went with 'thing'. In English, no less."

" _Shuddup. Anyway, I figured we wouldn't be able to get anything done since your friend was there."_

Considering they would've probably had to transform to get anything done, she'd assumed right. "Do you still need help?"

" _That would be nice. I tried Marinette, too, but she wasn't home."_

"Alright. I'll come to you."

* * *

When Eiko first invited Adrien out for some 'one-on-one feline fun' (her words, not his), he was immediately wary of her intentions. He knew she wasn't going to try anything romantic or sexual but that still left a lot of possibilities out there. She was the most unpredictable out of all of them so far, and not just because they knew her the least. For all her politeness, she had a wild side that matched her hairstyle.

As it turned out, she just wanted to hang out with someone like herself. Someone with a bit of cat in them. Someone who understood the urge to jump and prowl, to run on all fours, who had a tail to betray their emotions, and thrived in the night. So, they'd started scheduling patrols together. His weekly schedule consisted of two nights with just Ladybug, one night with just Kasai Neko, usually one night with Sombra and Ladybug, and one night with everyone.

Now that she had a practical suit, Kasai was just as graceful as Chat Noir himself. He hadn't admitted it to Marinette yet because he didn't want her to feel jealous or anything…but he _liked_ having another cat around. She matched him in ways that no one else could, not even Ladybug. They didn't have a word for it but Adrien suspected that, if Kasai had still been part of a pair, she would've been the equivalent to Chat Noir.

Japan's architecture was nothing like Paris's and Kasai was loving the veritable playground its rooftops offered. Chat Noir was happy to teach her how to maneuver them and even happier to see how quickly she picked up on it. She wasn't as comfortable as he was but that was something that would come in time. For now, she got to experience the thrill of never quite knowing what was coming ahead of her.

Kasai was more of a traditional superhero. She wasn't content to simply look for akuma and stop violent crimes if they happened across them, she wanted to seek them out. So, on the nights she and Chat went out together, they would prowl around the edges of areas with the thickest congestion of people and some of the rougher parts of town. Carjackers and muggers were the most common. Breaking up fights was always fun. Sometimes people would try to get a few swings in and Chat would enjoy dancing around them as they failed epically. Kasai turned out to be a master at quite a few forms of Japanese martial arts, much to his surprise. In hindsight, he probably should've known she would be. When you had centuries to live and nothing better to do, martial arts was a good way to fill the time.

They were far busier than Chat Noir had expected to be when he agreed to help her hunt crime and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He and Ladybug had been 'patrolling' for years but they'd never stopped as much crime in a week as he and Kasai did in one day. Plagg reminded him that ordinary crime was not his responsibility, only magical crime, but he couldn't help but still feel guilty.

Unlike in comics where most criminals would try at fight back, in real life the criminals knew better. When Kasai and Chat were on the prowl together, he quickly learned that it didn't take much effort to subdue them and if they didn't immediately comply or flee, usually all they had to do was put on an intimidating display to get the job done. A hiss or two, a fighting stance, maybe a flaming arrow forming in Kasai's bow, and the bastard would hightail it out of there. They never got far, of course, and they always ended up deposited at the nearest police station.

* * *

Marinette knew from news reports and Ladyblog posts that Kasai Neko went out on her own on more nights than their established patrol schedule dictated. From what she could tell, Eiko herself was almost entirely nocturnal, so she wasn't exactly going out of her way, rather choosing to pass her empty hours with something productive and beneficial to people. Neither Adrien nor Marinette saw a reason to warn her against her vigilantism, either, because she wasn't actually doing very much of it.

Ladybug and Kasai only patrolled together on the day when the entire group was out so she herself had never seen the Tiger in action, but Adrien reassured her that the most they usually had to do was posture a bit and that'd get the job done. Marinette was impressed. If only akuma were so simple to dispatch. Kasai wasn't breaking any laws, she wasn't hurting anyone who didn't deserve it, and she was helping people. Marinette was content to just let her do her thing, as were most people in the city.

But there were still some people who thought the superheroes were being given too much freedom. That the government shouldn't be allowing "all of these freaks" to even be in the city, especially one that was trying to enforce the law all the time. But this talk was mostly restricted to social media and neither the mayor's office nor the police ever issued a statement on the matter. As long as none of them stepped on any toes, things would be fine…she hoped.

* * *

The Guardians only ever came out in force for akumas. Even on the nights of their group patrols they didn't run around together, so people were only used to seeing them as a united front during a battle. But when Kasai Neko informed them that she'd encountered a massive fire in an apartment block and was going in, all four other Guardians were on-scene within ten minutes. Victims, rescue workers, and bystanders alike were almost in awe when they realized all the heroes had shown up.

It was a large apartment block with over two hundred residents and the fire was massive, just like she'd said. Many residents had made it out early, before the fire took on a life its own and grew ravenous. Those who hadn't gotten out were stuck. By the time the other Guardians arrived, Kasai had already been in and out of the building six times, returning with one or more people who'd been trapped inside each run. A paramedic was only just managing to catch her between runs to give her some oxygen before she flung herself back into the fire.

Firefly arrived in time to see Kasai deposit a young woman in front of firefighters, take a hit from a waiting oxygen mask, before leaping back into the burning building, He immediately deduced what she'd been doing and didn't hesitate, throwing himself into the fray of paramedics. "I am a medic!" he told them in clear French, words memorized during a war long past. "Let me help."

Ladybug flew up to the roof to see if anyone had made it out up there and to the great surprise of rescue workers, returned with three people clinging to her. There wasn't much for Sombra or Chat Noir to do in the situation other than comfort victims but that was one of Chat's specialties. Sombra went with him. Even though she could barely communicate with them, many of the younger residents of the burning building were relieved to see her as well as Chat Noir. The heroes had come. The heroes would make it better.

Kasai went in and out of the building a total of thirteen times before the firefighters stopped her. The structure was too weak. She could get trapped. She could die.

The ancient woman considered them for a long moment. Ladybug thought she might ignore them and go back inside anyway. Then Kasai Neko turned to her. "This fire is too big for me to extinguish safely," she told her seriously. "I need your help."

"Anything," Ladybug replied, reaching for her yo-yo.

Kasai saw what she was doing and she shook her head. "I am going to de-transform after I'm done or before I can finish. I need you to hide me."

The younger Guardian nodded. Kasai dipped her head then moved towards the fire.

"Hey!" the fireman who'd stopped her before shouted. "You can't go back in! Ladybug, stop her!"

Ladybug walked forward as if to do just that but instead of stopping her, she planted herself firmly between the firefighters and her fellow Guardian. Taking a deep breath, she called upon her power to shield and threw her arms out wide. Power flared in her blood and light exploded from her body, forming a dome around herself and Kasai Neko as she had once done for Chat. The firefighters shouted in protest but Ladybug ignored them and turned to the elder Guardian who was watching her with something like pride.

"Do your thing," Ladybug said. "This won't hold long."

* * *

Over a dozen cameras caught what happened next. Without any water or visible force, the flames consuming the apartment block began to die. Inch by inch, they receded, dwindling away until, mere minutes after the phenomenon had begun, there was nothing left but blackened, faintly smoking rubble.

Ladybug's opaque shield dissolved away and revealed the spotted heroine kneeling where Kasai Neko had last been seen standing, her body curled protectively around a single, prone form. The other superheroes, who had been milling anxiously about outside the dome, surged forward. Sombra planted herself between Ladybug and the crowd and lifted her winged arms high. She said something no one could hear and everything became enshrouded in darkness.

But it was too late. The cameras had seen and so, too, had the people.

A pair of bare legs and slender feet encased in simple black flats stretching out from the woman that Ladybug had gone to such lengths to conceal.

A heroine exhausted, powerless, of her own free will. A heroine who had sacrificed something—though no one was quite certain as to what—simply to save people and their homes.

* * *

Though not everyone had made it out alive, Kasai had saved over twenty people from the fire. The firefighters would never have been able to match her in time. Not even Ladybug could've done what she had.

Miraculously, much of the grumbling about the striped "vigilante" died down after that.

* * *

"You need not worry about me," Eiko reassured the unmasked Guardians gathered around her bed. Baagh, her kwami, mumbled something unintelligible and cuddled into her neck. She lifted a hand to pat him gently. "I am merely unused to spending that much energy all at once."

"That was stupid," Jacob told her, point-blank. "You could've killed yourself."

"How?" Marinette asked.

"She went beyond the power supplied by her own transformation and drew from the reserves within her own body," he explained. "That power is what fuels us. When it's depleted—whether it's from using too much like she did or being away from the Miraculous too long—we lose our abilities. And she'd been going in and out of that fire for at least fifteen minutes." He fixed Eiko with a stern look. "She's only immune to fire. Not smoke. The only reason she was still standing was because of the power inside her."

Eiko sighed tiredly. "I knew the risks."

"And it was stupid."

"It was worth it."

"It was suicide!" he thundered. "And the last thing we need right now is a brand new, untrained Guardian on our hands!"

That statement hung in the air poignantly for several long seconds. Eiko and Jacob stared each other down. Adrien shifted closer to Marinette almost reflexively.

Eiko sighed once more. "I saved them and I am alive. That is the end."

Jacob scoffed and looked at the younger Guardians in the room. "I'm just glad none of you are old enough to pull a stunt like this yet."

* * *

"Y'know," Alya said slowly after showing Marinette a photo of Ladybug hiding Kasai Neko's body with her own, "I never understood why they seemed to have a time limit…but this is the answer, isn't it?"

Marinette kept her voice carefully neutral and did not look at her friend. "What do you mean?"

Alya tapped Kasai's bare legs with her thumb. "Her suit was gone. I've told you before that I've heard Ladybug and Chat Noir talking about 'transforming back'. I've always had this idea of that the Miraculous changed how they look so no one could recognize them and that they'd lose that after a certain time—but this changes everything. They meant _literally_. Their suits or whatever are part of a transformation. Like magical girls. Kasai Neko used up so much power that she lost her transformation, the suit, or whatever. And Ladybug was protecting her identity. Which, is great and all, I'm glad she could do that, but do you know what this _means_?" Alya hissed and didn't wait for an answer. "All someone would have to do is trap one of them somewhere long enough and eventually they'd revert back to normal."

"That's…um. Wow." Marinette met Tikki's eyes over Alya's head. The tiny god's expression was troubled and she did not even bother to give Marinette a reassuring smile this time.

Alya was getting way too close.

* * *

 **Here is that good old reference chart, now updated!**

 **Creation: Ladybug (Marinette) | Destruction: Chat Noir (Adrien)  
Order: Papillon (?) | Chaos: N/A (Deceased)  
Honesty: N/A (Deceased) | Dishonesty: Lisitsa (Olesya)  
Light: Firefly (Jacob) | Darkness: Sombra (Aline)  
Possibilities: ? (?) | Memories: ? (?)  
Water: N/A (Deceased) | Fire: Kasai Neko (Eiko)  
Earth: ? (?) | Air: ? (?)  
Life: ? (?) | Death: ? (?)**

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	61. Soixante-et-un

**whoops that took longer than I'd planned**

 **HOW BOUT THAT SEASON 2?!**

 **Speaking of which, this is the one and only time I'm going to say this: while this story only "follows" canon up until season 1's end, I am at liberty to work in things from Season 2 if I want. Which happens in this chapter. So yeah. Spoiler alert. It's _nothing_ major, I promise you, but it's there and there may be spoilers from here on out. **

**(In other words, season 2 aired and I liked a thing so I reworked how a particular plotline unfolded.)**

* * *

Eiko was back on her feet after only a few days in bed with her poor kwami and Jacob fussing over her. During that time, the other Guardians and Gabriel agreed it was time for her to meet her benefactor. So when Jacob arrived at her suite on the third afternoon after the fire, he brought Adrien and Gabriel with him. Eiko was immediately on her guard at the sight of the unfamiliar man but accepted his greetings nevertheless.

She took the news much better than Jacob did. She did not yell or set anything on fire but instead listened calmly as Adrien explained the situation. Baagh floated out of hiding while he was talking and settled on Eiko's shoulder. When Adrien told her that his father had been the one to make the arrangements for her, Jacob, and Aline, her entire demeanor shifted. She bowed politely and thanked him for his kindness.

"So…what do you think?" Adrien asked nervously.

Eiko took a deep breath in through her nose and let it out slowly. She was quiet for a few long moments and seemed to be considering what to say. Finally, she looked up at Gabriel. "Will you die with his secret unspoken?"

"I would die if it meant his secret remained unspoken," Gabriel replied.

Eiko nodded slowly and looked at the Guardians. "You are very lucky, Adrien. And you, Jacob. You have always had someone to share yourselves with. Someone to…be with. I love Baagh dearly but he is not human. It will never be the same. I would not have lived five centuries if I had been alone. I would have lost my mind long ago." She took another deep breath and met Adrien's eyes sadly. "In my life, I have had twelve people who shared my burden with me. Some learned on their own, some I told, but I never so much as thought about killing a single one of them. Your father has nothing to fear from me."

Adrien exhaled in relief and Gabriel dipped his head gratefully.

"I think your plan is brilliant," she went on. "I have lived in Japan for so long that I am able to live and hide easily but I cannot imagine what it would be like to constantly have to change countries and cultures and survive without help. I do not know what I would have done if you two had not provided me this hotel. You have nothing to fear from me."

* * *

Marinette hated dropping the news on Adrien so soon after having to deal with his father and Eiko, but something had to be done. Alya was getting too close. They had to deter her before it was too late and, clearly, their efforts as Marinette and Adrien had not been enough. Ladybug and Chat Noir would have to step in…and they would have to be careful. Alya idolized them, yes, but if they did not handle this delicately they could end up making the situation ten times worse. She had no idea the danger of the information she held and if prompted in the wrong way, she might decide to make it public knowledge.

They decided to leave the others out of this. It was their problem and, given what was going on with his father, they needed to prove they were capable of handling security risks on their own, especially since they were sort of responsible. They weighed their options, ran through scenario after scenario with Tikki and Plagg, and tried to account for any possible way the conversation could go. They only had one shot at this and, for Alya's sake, they had to make it count.

Except things were already in motion, plans put into place by people they were unaware of, events that neither had anticipated drawing closer. A secret kept by Alya until almost the final moment.

* * *

"A—a _talk show_?" Marinette stammered.

Alya nodded eagerly. Nino sat beside her in the booth at their favorite café, holding her hand with a look of utter pride for his girlfriend on his face. In another life, maybe Marinette would have shared his sentiments. Maybe they all would've. But not here, not now, not with things and circumstances as they were. Because there was only one reason Alya Césaire would be invited to be on a talk show and it had everything to do with Paris's superheroes.

"Which talk show?" Adrien asked sounding far more composed than Marinette knew she would've been able to. Under the table, she fumbled for Adrien's hand and held on tight.

"Face to Face!" Alya exclaimed.

Marinette forced herself to smile. About two years ago, not long before Marinette had decided to stop babysitting Manon, her mother, Nadja, had finally persuaded the studio to allowed her to have her own prime time show. It was like most run of the mill talk shows but it had no studio audience and aired live, though its true unique feature being the premise of allowing people to video call in and ask questions of the guests. Marinette had watched the first few episodes live with Manon but after she'd decided to stop babysitting her—a decision fueled by certain revelations about Guardians that put a few things into perspective for Marinette—she hadn't felt the need to continue watching. Though she did remember the studio had been forced to change a few things after some of the early callers hadn't been adequately vetted before allowing to appear on screen.

The TV show as popular enough, especially once people like Jagged Stone appeared. She was happy for Nadja but she had a funny feeling that the woman was fishing for information. With all the new superheroes in the city and none of them talking to any official media outlets, who better to turn to for a scoop than the Ladyblogger extraordinaire who had an unspoken preferred status when it came to Ladybug and Chat Noir, and unbeknownst to Nadja Chamack, a plethora of dangerous knowledge.

"That's awesome, Alya!" Marinette cried with what she hoped was enough delight. "Do you know what you're going to talk about?"

"My blog, obviously."

"You knew about this?" Adrien asked Nino who nodded.

Something shifted in Adrien's expression and Alya noticed it immediately. "I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you guys but the studio made me sign a form saying I wouldn't tell anyone until they started advertising it. Nino only knew because he was with me when I first got the call."

"Don't worry, I know all about NDAs," Adrien said with a reassuring wave of his hand. "It's alright and I'm really happy for you! When do you go on?"

"Next Thursday!"

Six days. Marinette squeezed Adrien's hand even harder. That barely gave them any time to work. They'd wanted to keep Alya's knowledge from the other Guardians but when she went live, there'd be no more keeping it a secret.

* * *

They considered not interfering beforehand. Alya wasn't an idiot, she wouldn't blab anything dangerous on TV. She was their friend and they had to have faith in her. Of course, that didn't mean they weren't going to sneak into the studio and observe the interview out of sight, ready to intervene if necessary. Alya they trusted. Nadja they didn't.

Then, on Sunday evening, Marinette returned to her room with a plate full of cookies for them to snack on just in time to catch the tail end of a promo for Alya's upcoming interview that tantalized viewers with the promise of "all of Ladybug and Chat Noir's secrets finally revealed."

The plate of cookies slipped from Marinette's hand and clattered to the floor. Tikki rocketed into the air with a shriek. Plagg spat out a mouthful of cheese. Adrien picked the pillow up from the chaise and hurled it across the room with a noise of frustration. He turned to Marinette with a look of desperation but it was all she could do to not scream.

* * *

Of course, they weren't the only ones to see the promo. They were just fortunate that Sombra had decided not to tell Jacob about it yet.

"This is dangerous though, yeah?" the young Guardian fretted, her ears sagging. "W-what if she says something she shouldn't and everyone finds out about us? What if Jacob or Eiko decides to kill her?!"

"That's why you can't tell them. Not yet." Chat Noir said. "She's our friend, we have to give her a chance."

"But we'll be in the studio when the interview happens," Ladybug went on, grim. "They advertise it as a live show but it's actually delayed by several minutes. If she says something incriminating, we can shut the whole thing down before it goes live."

Sombra bit her lip and looked between them both uncertainly. "Are you…sure?"

"Positively."

"And if something goes wrong?"

Chat Noir flexed his claws. "Let's see 'em broadcast anything once I fry their boards."

Sombra gave him a withering look. "That might be the stupidest thing I've ever heard and I've heard some pretty stupid things. And I mean _**stupid**_. You can't just charge in there and start destroying things like that! You wanna be labeled a criminal? You want people to start digging into our secrets?"

Cowed, Chat Noir lowered his hand. Ladybug looked relieved but her voice was tight when she asked, "Do you have a better idea, Sombra?"

"…Actually, yes. And it won't ruin our reputations, either, so yay me."

* * *

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Sombra snuck into the TV station and carefully made their way towards the main studio. This wasn't the first time Chat Noir had been forced to navigate the building undetected and he knew a route through the industrial strength ventilation system. His route let them out near the ceiling in the studio where the crew were already setting up for the show. Neither Nadja nor Alya had arrived yet but the table of snacks between the two plush chairs below indicated they were not far off.

Ladybug and Chat Noir eased themselves onto the support beams, lying on their stomachs as far from the set as possible. Sombra, on the other hand, wedged herself into the corner and sat cross-legged. She took a deep breath and Chat Noir watched her worriedly. She'd been adamant that she come with them, that she could help them, and though they'd eventually agreed she would be useful, they'd been concerned about her endurance.

Sombra took another deep breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth, and then closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. Then something rippled away from her body and the space around them began to dim. Like an invisible screen being raised, reducing the light allowed into their space. Sombra's jaw twitched and she peeked one eye open to examine her work and exhaled through her mouth.

"Good job, Aly," Ladybug murmured and Sombra's ears perked up. "Let us know if you start to get tired or anything."

Sombra nodded.

Nadja arrived in the studio, as pressed and prim as always, twenty minutes before they were set to go live. Alya arrived not five minutes later. She was wearing a simple red dress with matching ballet flats that Ladybug recognized. Her hair, however, was in a pretty up-do that Alya herself would never have bothered with and even from a distance she could tell her friend wasn't wearing nearly as much eye makeup as she normally did. Man, they really were pulling out all the stops for this show. Ladybug hoped they didn't have to ruin this for Alya after all.

"She looks nice," Chat Noir murmured. Ladybug nodded,

Interviewer and interviewee took their seats on opposite sides of the snack table. They made small talk and Alya helped herself to the food while studio techs finished their light checks, got Nadja and Alya mic-ed, and did the sound checks. Someone called the five-minute warning and butterflies erupted in Ladybug's stomach. She took a deep breath to calm herself and shifted around on the beam to get comfortable again. This was going to be a nerve-wracking thirty minutes.

* * *

Easily a third of the city, if not more, was watching when the show began, including fans of the show, the Ladyblog, and the heroes themselves.

* * *

"Good evening, everyone! I'm Nadja Chamack and you're watching Face to Face! With me this evening I have Alya Césaire, owner of Ladyblog, the number one fansite for Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Number one in the world!" Alya added, lifting her finger and chin proudly.

"That's quite an impressive feat! It's all in French, isn't it?" Nadja queried.

Alya nodded. "Most of the original content is although I do add English translations for all the best stuff. Ladybug and Chat Noir have lots of fans around the world, after all!"

"Absolutely! So, the lines are open for people to begin submitting their questions. In the meantime, while we wait, the Ladyblog has been around almost as long as Ladybug and Chat Noir have. Could you tell us a little bit about how you got started?"

"I've always been a little bit of a journalist and I've been into superheroes since I was little. So, y'know, when they suddenly started showing up here in Paris, I was _all over_ that. I actually got up close and personal with one of the very first attacks and got some _great_ footage. After the youtube video I made from it blew up overnight, I decided to throw together a blog. It got insanely popular really quick so then I started adding more pages to the blog, I had a layout designed, all the good stuff. One thing lead to another, I added a forum and then, eventually, an akuma sightings page for people to report akuma locations and whereabouts. I thought it'd be cool to have my blog be like the Batsignal…but mostly it serves as a warning system for regular Parisians. A friend of mine named Max Kanté is actually developing an app that will connect to that page so people can access it more easily."

"That's incredible!" Nadja said. "Will it be available for Apple and Android?"

"Yeah and soon, hopefully. Don't quote me on this exactly but I believe it'll be ready by May."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it. Now, looking back through your blog—" Nadja swiped on her tablet and an image of the Ladyblog appeared on the large screen behind them "—you've had quite a few exclusives with them, more than anyone else I daresay. How did you manage that?"

Alya shrugged. "I honestly couldn't tell you for certain but I think it started because they were fans of my blog. And I've kept it up and stayed loyal to them throughout everything."

"You were the only one who managed to interview Ladybug about her wings."

"Yeah. With the way things had been for them, they weren't willing to talk to people who might work against them during the interview. I'm still humbled that they respect me that much."

Nadja smiled brightly at her. "From what I've seen, you certainly earned it. Now, if you're ready, let's get some questions from your fans."

Alya sat up straighter and turned towards the screen. "Bring it on!"

* * *

Chat Noir's fingers tapped restlessly against his arm as he listened to the third guest speak to Alya. So far, the questions had been innocuous and surprisingly centered on her and her blog rather than them. He, Ladybug, and Sombra had been expecting something much different but perhaps that was the screening stage at work. After all, _Alya_ was the star of the show. He knew if we were in her place, being celebrated for his work and accomplishments, he would've been put out if he received nothing but questions from _other_ people.

Maybe this would be it. Maybe they _honestly_ had nothing to worry about…but then he remembered the teaser for the show. The promise of all their secrets revealed. Something was going to go down, it was just a matter of time.

* * *

"We're going to take a break from our guest callers for a few minutes but the lines will remain open so, folks, be sure to call in for your chance to speak with Alya Césaire live!" Nadja gave the cameras another winning smile then turned to Alya. "Now, Alya, when we spoke earlier, you mentioned that you had been researching into the history of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"I have been," Alya agreed. "And it's not as easy as it sounds."

"I wouldn't think so. Would you care to share some of your findings?"

"Of course. There's a lot more information out there than you'd think, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm not the only one who's been researching, either. I found research from scholars as far back as the 1800s and they were referencing some scholarly works that were even older. A lot of them I couldn't find online but I know physical copies must exist somewhere, or they did at one time. At first, I was looking into just Ladybug and Chat Noir but as I started reading, I found a book written in…1910, I think, by a scholar named Antony Costa, who had done exactly what I was trying to do, but he went further. He spent years researching and found evidence of eight heroes, including Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Eight?" Nadja repeated, thunderstruck. "There are eight?!"

Alya shook her head eagerly. "There's _way_ more. He didn't even _mention_ people like Sombra or Firefly and yet here they are. He also didn't mention a Fox or a Tiger but we've seen them, too. Who knows how many others exist?"

"How far back do the records go?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but the Louvre's exhibit on ancient Egypt showed evidence of a Ladybug and Black Cat as early as five thousand years ago. They've been popping up in history periodically ever since, all over the world, always in the middle of some big war, or conflict, or disaster. What's even _crazier,_ he mentions that there was a Butterfly. Antony Costa's final mention of the Butterfly was in a conflict in Romania, with his partner, some sort of lizard, in the early 1900s. They were always heroes.

"After something Ladybug and Chat Noir said to me last year, I'm almost certain Le Papillon is the Butterfly Costa wrote about, and that he's partner-less now. I think his partner must've died, which is why he's gone to the Dark Side."

"But that was over a hundred years ago," Nadja pointed out.

"Yeah but that's way out of date and it doesn't explain why no one else inherited their powers, either."

"So, you think their powers are inhere—"

And then without any warning at all, the entire studio went dark.

* * *

The show went to went to commercial, the cut happening just before Nadja's questioning began to avoid raising concerns with the viewers.

On set and in the booth, crew members and technicians alike ran around frantically trying to diagnose and fix the problem. All the switches were on and the rest of the building had perfect power. Yet the studio was dark. Sometime tried toggling a light switch from on to off and then back on again and the lights it controlled began to return…for a few seconds, then they went dark again.

This went on for several minutes. Nadja tried to reassure Alya that everything was fine and would be sorted in a few minutes, for sure. Alya smiled but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was being orchestrated by someone. Someone very specific. Someone who had reason to stop her from speaking.

Someone capable of bringing darkness.

It was too dark to search properly, even with the errant beams of the crew's flashlights flicking around the room, but every time one of the overhead lights flickered on, she'd cast her eyes out across the empty corners of the room, the piles of boxes and equipment, and then up to the rafters above.

A light near the door flared to life and Alya's eyes zipped around, seeking, and…just… _there._ In the corner of the room, high on the support beams near the ceiling, she could just make out three figures and a pair of faintly glowing green eyes. Alya sucked in a breath. She opened her mouth to—to…well, she wasn't sure what. Before she could decide, the glowing eyes shifted slowly to the right, then the left, and right, and left.

The figure in the back waved their hand and the nearby light faded out once more.

Alya's teeth clicked shut and she curled her hands into fists in her lap. She looked down at them and took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart which galloped in her chest mercilessly because she knew, deep inside, that she'd done something she couldn't undo. Crossed a line she had forgotten or perhaps pretended didn't exist in her eagerness to share the truth.

Finally, the lights came back on and stayed on. The crew prepared to resume shooting and Nadja attempted to soothe her shaken guest star with friendly words and smiles. And Alya…it took everything she had to not stare in the corner where she'd seen them, knowing it would only make things worse if she brought attention to them.

She felt their gazes like hot metal spikes against her skin for the rest of the interview.

* * *

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	62. Soixante deux

**Someone asked me a question the other day and I'd like to address the issue here.**

 _ **"** **how much more difficult is it for you to write Guardian-Gabriel after season 2 started?"**_

 **At this point, Guardians Gabe and Canon Gabe are two different people and I have to treat them as such. Because I fucking** **_hate_** **Gabriel in the show and it's gonna take character development like we haven't seen since Zuko to change my opinion to anything remotely positive. However,** **Guardians Gabe is who Gabriel _could_ have been if he hadn't chosen to go the villain route and be an abusive manipulative dickbag.  
**

 **In Guardians, Gabriel never acquired a Miraculous, only knowledge. What happened to Adrien's mother that prompted him to seek this knowledge will be coming later. He is far from perfect and he is guilty of negligence, but he recognizes this and has apologized. In a real way, he's now paying for what he did by providing all the aid he can for the Guardians, taking an active interest in Adrien's well-being, and doing what he can in general to help Adrien succeed with the weight he has on his shoulders.  
**

* * *

Jacob was not in the least bit pleased about the interview. The kids had been hoping to keep it a secret from him but of course he found out. Of course he did. Then Eiko did, too, and apparently the acceptance she'd shown Gabriel did not extend to Alya. And so the afternoon after Alya's interview found the three young Guardians seated on the couch in Adrien's room while their elders glowered down at them. Marinette, unused to such harsh stares, squirmed under them but Adrien met Jacob's gaze with a firm look of his own. Sombra, on the other hand, leaned against the arm of the couch, not quite separate from them, but not under the same amount of scrutiny. She, after all, had only been privy to the problem for a few days.

Adrien started from the beginning, with Marinette providing details as necessary, and together they painted a picture of the last few months with Alya for Jacob and Eiko. The more they told, the more concerned the elders grew, to the point where Eiko demanded point blank why they hadn't dealt with the situation sooner.

"And just how were we supposed to do that?" Adrien snapped, standing for the first time since he'd arrived. "She's our friend! Should we have just—just _murdered_ her?"

Eiko clenched her jaw but said nothing.

"I don't want to say yes but…" Jacob trailed off and let out a frustrated sigh. "The rules exist for a reason and I think, given the times we live in now, they're more important than ever. All it takes is one mistake, one slip of the tongue, or one tidbit of knowledge and then everything comes crashing down. Your father is one thing, your friend is another entirely. She's already proven she can't keep the secret. She's a risk and a liability—one I'm not prepared to tolerate."

"Jacob…" Sombra murmured.

"So, what, then?" Adrien asked. "You want us to stand aside and let _you_ kill her?"

Jacob's gaze turned sharp. "If that's what it takes, yes. This isn't about either of you—it's about all of us. I don't expect you to be able to control her but I would have expected you to mitigate the situation. Instead, you've made it worse! I know you've clued her in on some things, and that's just from what exists on that blog of hers. Who knows what you told her off the record?! This is _your_ problem and if you want to survive—not just your father but _you_ —then you better be able to prove yourself capable of solving it and protecting your Three."

Marinette bristled, leaping to her feet beside her partner. "Listen, you—"

Jacob spoke over her. "Our secrets keep not only your Three safe, but everyone's. Everything— _everything_ —depends on our identities, powers, and kwami remaining a secret. She is too close and she's a danger to us all!" The Guardian of Light took a step forward into Adrien's personal space. "And if you don't deal with her then _we_ will and you probably won't like what happens after."

Adrien was about two seconds away from calling Plagg to the ring, if only for the sense of security that came with his transformation because in the span of thirty seconds Jacob had threatened not only Alya's life, but his life, his father's, and Marinette's. Adrien wasn't entirely certain how to respond to such a thing but Chat Noir certainly felt like the way to go. Before he could, Eiko wedged an arm between them and used it as leverage to force them apart.

"Alright, enough," she commanded. "Before we do anything, and I mean _anything_ , we need to assess the situation fully. Right now, the problem lies in the fact that we don't know exactly what she knows. Adrien, Marinette, that's your responsibility. Find out. Tonight. We will make our decision from there. No one is getting killed if they don't have to be and that's _final_."

"Fine," Adrien growled through clenched teeth. "We'll confront her. Now get the hell out of my house."

* * *

Chat Noir and Ladybug chose to corner Alya in her bedroom since that would be where she kept all the information she'd collected. She was only a little surprised when they showed up at her window that night but she let them in nevertheless and wedged a chair under her door to keep out her family, a move which both Guardians approved of.

"I saw you in the studio," Alya said quietly, turning around. "Couldn't you just watch it at home like normal people?"

Chat's gaze was piercing. "'Don't forget to join us live, this Thursday at 19:00 for _Face to Face_ ,'" he recited in tone that had far too much bite in it to be chipper even though that was what he'd intended, "'when I'm joined by Alya Césaire, owner of the Ladyblog for all the info on Paris's favorite superheroes!'"

"'All their secrets will finally be revealed!'" Ladybug added.

Alya swallowed nervously. "I didn't—I mean—that's just media hype. I-I did tell them I had some new information about you guys b-but I wasn't—I wouldn't tell her anything dangerous!"

"You don't get to decide what information is dangerous and what isn't." Chat took a step towards her and Alya flinched. He blinked, angry expression clearing, and returned to his previous position. Clearing his throat, he folded his arms. "That's our call and that's why we stopped the interview."

"And you're here now to what? Scold me?"

Ladybug shook her head and her eyes flicked to the inconspicuous manila folder sitting on Alya's desk. Alya followed her gaze and her body jerked in surprise. "Who—how do you—who told you?"

"No one told us," Chat Noir replied smoothly.

"Then how?" she demanded. "Have you been _spying_ on me?"

Instead of answering, Chat Noir moved towards her desk, only to pause when Alya literally threw herself between it and him.

"No!" she practically snarled, arms spread wide as if she could bar them from reaching her work. "You can't just come in here and steal weeks of research from me!"

"Yes, we can," Ladybug retorted. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, Alya. I told you once a long time ago—do you remember? I told you that this isn't just some fun _thing_ we do. We don't put on costumes and masks and swing around fighting crime out of some overinflated sense of justice. We aren't heroes."

"We're protectors," Chat Noir added. "And one of the things we must protect are our secrets. There are things you cannot know. I mean it. You _cannot_."

"Such as?" Alya demanded.

"You don't understand. We cannot let you continue your research and we cannot let you share it with the public." Chat Noir paused, letting the statement hang in the air. "You _have_ to stop or we have to stop you."

Alya's breath caught in her throat and her face lost its color at an alarming rate. Her eyes flicked between the Guardians, looking desperately for some sign of a joke or a lie. "You…you wouldn't…"

"We will." Ladybug declared, ignoring the wrenching in her gut from the truth of her words. "Keeping the secret is paramount."

Alya held her hands up. "Hold on! If all this stuff is so forbidden then why does it exist? How was I able to find it so easily?"

"Except you didn't. You found other people's findings and pooled it together. The knowledge you have has been collected by many people over time. By themselves, all these little details—" Chat Noir gestured at the folder Alya guarded "—didn't really mean anything."

"Until recently, it was impossible for one person to put it all together as you have." Ladybug added.

"Plus, information you've gotten from us, which would've been harmless otherwise, has lead you to some dangerous theories."

"Dangerously accurate, you mean," Alya retorted.

Chat Noir glared at her but did not answer.

"Alya, please. We're trying to help you. Just give us the folder," Ladybug pleaded, "and any other research you have. Swear to us you'll keep quiet."

Alya shook her head and a strange, almost hysterical laugh bubbled past her lips. "I can't believe this is happening. I'm not hurting anyone!"

Ladybug shook her head. "No, but what you know is dangerous is enough to hurt us. I told you what would happen to us if we were exposed. You know how to expose us. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"I-I know how to expose you? I don't—" she stopped dead and her teeth clicked shut. She looked between them and then at the floor. "I was right. You do physically transform."

Neither Guardian dared confirm her statement but, really, their silence was enough.

"So, what happens now?" she asked, voice hollow. "I mean, I already know this stuff. There's no guarantee I won't work something out later."

"We know," Chat said quietly. "But we like you…which is why we're giving you a chance to walk away from this. The others won't be merciful if you don't."

"What would they do?"

Ladybug sighed. "Please, Alya, just let all of this go. You can still have your blog but stop digging into things. Let us take care of Papillon and fade into history like we've always done."

Alya turned her back to them and placed her hands on the folder. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other with identical expressions of pain and wariness. They hated this…probably as much as she'd hate them, now. "I'm not the first one to figure things out, am I?" she muttered.

"No," Ladybug replied softly. "There have been others."

"And what happened to them?"

…

"I see." Alya sighed. "I guess it doesn't really matter to you but I was supposed to turn in a project on this for school." She turned around and held out the folder. Chat Noir took it.

"Pick another topic," Ladybug advised. "It's not too late in the year."

Alya gave her an unreadable look then pulled a flash drive out of her desk drawer, along with a notebook, which she handed to Chat as well. "That's everything. Now please get out of my room."

"And the backups?" Chat Noir prompted.

"Literally the only thing I've ever done that I didn't backup. Like I said, I wasn't willing to risk this. I only had one copy of everything." She jerked her head at the materials Chat held. "It's all there."

"Thank you. We're so sorry."

"Just go."

* * *

Marinette wished she could just burn the evidence and be done with it they had to be thorough. Before they disposed of her research, they needed to know exactly what Alya had uncovered. Marinette felt sick as they opened the folder and plugged in the flash drive, knowing they were looking for evidence that her best friend was a risk to their safety. The potential ramifications of this weighed heavy on her but she couldn't _not_ know. So, with her heart in her throat, she began clicking through the files on the flash drive while Adrien examined the contents of the folder. The kwami floated beside their hosts, reading along.

She had to give Alya credit. She'd found some pretty amazing things in such a short amount of time. There were old, grainy articles from as early as the 1700s with mentions of possible Guardians. One of them, dated 1775, spoke of a valiant soldier 'shining brighter than the sun' on the battlefield and Marinette wondered if she ought to save this for Jacob. Alya also had collected images of books and other historical sources either describing or depicting Guardians, including the one she'd referenced in her interview by Antony Costa.

"She has a lot of notes in here," Adrien said quietly. "Theories. More than she even told us."

"How bad?" Marinette asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing damning. She's way off the mark on some. …Though here—" he tapped a section of notes on a page "—she's almost certain of our immortality. That's not enough, is it?" He looked at the kwami's for an answer and both of them shook their heads.

"No, it's not," Plagg reassured them. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the two of you've practically told her yourselves…even if you thought you were lying at the time."

Marinette finished going through the contents of the flash drive first. There were plenty of interesting bits of history, both human and Guardian, but nothing damning. She'd gathered many pieces of a large puzzle but, given time, she could have very well pieced them together enough to see the larger picture. It seemed such a shame to let all of Alya's hard work go to waste, though.

Marinette hesitated, glancing at Tikki, then copied the files to her computer. The little god didn't comment.

She joined Adrien in going through Alya's notes. Alya had always been very secretive about her notes when telling her theories and discoveries to them and Marinette had never been rude enough to insist, figuring she'd tell them all the good bits anyway. This was a special look into Alya's think space and Marinette had to admire her deductive reasoning as well as the methodical way she sorted her thoughts.

Marinette found a stack of pages held together with a paperclip. The one on the top had her name on it.

 _Name: Ladybug_

 _First sighted: 09/09/2015_

 _Age: ? She seems like a teenager but she and CN have implied they're much older. Possibly immortal._

 _Animal: ladybug_

 _Gender: female_

 _Powers:_

 _-The 'Lucky Charm' which creates an item that is useful to the situation. This item is used to trigger a power that fixes all the damage caused during an akuma battle. **Damage not inflicted as a result of an akuma is unaffected. Unsure why.**_

 _-Shield generation. Shields have ranged in size, the largest being domes which cover a significant area around her body._

 _-Wings! Fully capable of flight but seem to be completely flimsy when not in use._

 _-Implied heightened senses, particularly smell. Super speed and super strength. I think she and CN can sense each other somehow, like a proximity sense._

Marinette flipped through the other sheets in the stack. Each one had a profile for one of the Guardians that had appeared in Paris thus far, even Papillon.

 _Name: Le Papillon_

 _First sighted: 09/09/2015_

 _Age: ? who even knows_

 _Animal: butterfly_

 _Gender: male (apparently)_

 _Powers:_

 _-Akumatizes people with butterflies. I suspect these butterflies are his own creation since they don't match any known species coloring or size._

 _-Somehow corrupts these butterflies? Ladybug purifies them every time before releasing them so obviously he's done something to them._

 _-Some way to sense negative emotions._

 _-Probably the same enhancements as the others._

"Aah," Tikki said softly. "These are very good."

Adrien leaned over to have a look as Marinette read through Sombra's page. When she got to the bottom, she bit her bottom lip in concern. Alya had added some extra notes here.

 _She seems younger than the others. She's smaller and her voice is higher. Her personality is very child-like and body language from the others, especially Firefly, indicates she's the junior._

 _What if she's new? She doesn't seem to have as many powers as the others and she's very reckless, uncoordinated. The one instance she fought alone, she never engaged in actual combat until the others arrived, she just taunted the akuma._

 _If she's new, then there have to be records of her somewhere – probably Brazil or Portugal. But without concrete details on her appearance, it'll be impossible for me to ever find them._

 _But what's an actual kid doing fighting like this? Who would choose a kid for such powers?_

And then, underlined: _What if they're ALL children when they're chosen?_

"Very bad, more like," Plagg muttered.

"Holy…" Adrien breathed. "At this rate, she'd have figured _us_ out by the end of the semester."

Marinette shook her head slowly and leaned her arms against the desk. "She's going to make an amazing journalist one day."

Adrien's responding laugh was humorless. He shook his head, too, and sighed. "I wish there was a way to bring her into the fold. She'd make a remarkable ally."

"She'd make a remarkable sorceress," Tikki mused. "She's got the persistence and the brain for it, for sure. And magical potential."

Marinette looked over her shoulder at her kwami. "Would her being a sorceress help?"

Tikki shrugged. "That depends on what you mean by help. Sorcerers are still outsiders but they almost always know Guardians exist. From there, they'd have varying degrees of knowledge based on what order or faction they learned from."

"Training as a sorcerer wouldn't save her if she uncovered the secrets." Plagg added pointedly. "Just so we're clear on that."

Tikki nodded. "I was just thinking aloud. As a sorceress, she'd be equipped to help us in our cause but she still could never know the secrets."

Marinette sighed. "So, not helpful. Ugh. I hate this. I really hate this. She's too close but I can't…"

"I can't either," Adrien agreed, leaning against her.

"You still don't have to. She's close but she didn't make it," Tikki reassured them. "Now we just have to hope Jacob and Eiko agree."

* * *

Marinette went by herself to see Jacob and Eiko. Adrien didn't trust himself enough to be in the same room as Jacob yet. …And he had bo-staff practice after school. She gave the elder Guardians a summary of Alya's findings while they picked through the hard copies of her research silently. Both were amazed at the quantity and quality of the information she'd pieced together and neither could help but marvel at the persistence of the researchers of old. To dedicate one's time, effort, and funds into researching legendary figures was no small feat. Nor was what Alya had done in compiling it all.

Given time, she could be as knowledgeable as Gabriel himself. Marinette knew it, Adrien knew it. Eiko and Jacob quickly declared it, too. Taking her research would only delay that inevitability. Even the kwami agreed.

"There has to be _something_ we can do," Marientte whispered, horrified and revolted by the looming prospect of having to let Alya be killed because she knew she herself could _never_ ….

"If I may," Baagh interrupted quietly. "There is, perhaps. Pyraa and her host have the ability to erase or even alter memories—any memories. And it is only a matter of time before she and Rhinn arrive with their hosts."

Jacob folded his arms thoughtfully. "You propose we suffer the girl to live long enough for the Elephant to alter her memories?"

"I do. I see no other solution to this problem that does not involve an insurmountable rift forming between the five of you."

"He's right," Tikki agreed. "This is uncharted territory for all of us and proceeding with caution is the wisest course of action, in my not so humble opinion."

"And mine," Lummi rumbled.

Marinette met Eiko's gaze and the elder Guardian pursed her lips. "What, then, should we do with her for now? The Elephant may not arrive for some time and Alya will remain a risk until then."

"Magic," Baagh said simply and flew down to Eiko's level. "Eiko's magical abilities are strong. A spell to ensure her silence would be of little difficulty."

"It's true."

"And she…Alya will be safe?" Marinette asked. "If we do this, you won't hurt her?"

Eiko looked at Jacob as she spoke. "I see no reason why she needs to be harmed if there are other alternatives. She's only seventeen and her interests in us weren't motivated by greed or…bad," she finished lamely with a look that suggested she could not remember the word she wanted to use.

Jacob took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly.

"You would be wise to listen to us," Lummi advised.

"I know, I know. Alright. On the condition that we can create a suitable spell, I won't object. …You hear that, Maus, you little bastard?" He added, looking at the wall. "Get your ass over here."

"…Um…" Marinette murmured, utterly lost.

"The Mouse can see the future," Tikki explained softly near her ear. "The best way to get his attention is to address him directly because odds are he already saw you do it."

* * *

Since it was Sunday, Marinette was charged with making sure Alya would be alone with her for part of the day. It was short notice but fortunately their group hadn't planned anything together so Marinette was able to persuade Alya to come over to her house after lunch without much difficulty. Alya was more subdued than Marinette ever remembered her being and she felt another intense pang of guilt for what she'd done.

She hated this.

She hated it more than anything. Even more than she hated Papillon.

* * *

Alya hadn't been herself since Ladybug and Chat Noir paid their visit. Marinette had noticed it at school yesterday morning but when she'd asked, Alya hadn't really told her anything. She'd hoped that meant Alya was taking their warning seriously and was content to leave the issue there, along with the promise to listen when she was ready to talk as was expected of her as her best girlfriend.

She hadn't even considered that Alya's reluctance to talk could've stemmed from something else entirely.

* * *

"Marinette…I need to ask you something."

Marinette, in the middle of watering her recently planted flowers, looked over her shoulder at her friend. "Yeah?"

Alya's expression was serious and she bit her lip before continuing. "And I need you to tell me the truth."

 _Merde._ Marinette didn't like where this was going. She set the watering can down and turned around. "Okay…"

"Did you…did you tell them about my research?"

Marinette cocked her head to the side. "Tell who?"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir. I know you know them, even if you won't tell me _how_."

"Alya—"

"Don't even try to deny it. I _know_ you know them. You got me that interview with Ladybug one time. Sometimes when I tell you things about them, you're not surprised. You act like you are, but you're not." Alya folded her arms, a look of grim satisfaction on her face. "And I've seen Chat Noir interact with you before—like he _knew_ you."

Marinette licked her lips and ducked her head. "You don't understand."

"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps saying."

"I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I—they said I had to keep it secret."

Alya scoffed but suddenly her ire didn't seem to be directed towards Marinette. "Why am I not surprised? …Did they tell you about my interview? What they did?"

"I haven't seen them in weeks. We're not even friends!" Marinette protested. "We've just…we've met. Sometimes they come over for snacks late at night."

"And did you tell them about my research?"

"I—" She paused, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "I don't _think_ I did…why—?"

"They _knew_ , Marinette!" Alya threw her hands up. They knew about my research, the folder I kept it in, everything. They came in and knew exactly what they were looking for!"

"Came in?" Marinette blurted out. "What do you mean? What happened?"

Kasai Neko cleared her throat.

* * *

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	63. Soixante Tres

**To those of you who sent me the uber-long reviews, particularly those of you who are just getting into this story - bless you. I love you. You make this shit worthwhile.**

 **This is for you.**

* * *

Both girls whirled around, Alya letting out a tiny scream. The Guardian crouched on the ledge over Marinette's trap door. Her amber eyes flicked between Alya and Marinette twice and then she slid off the smooth stone, mindful of the glass door below her.

"Oh my God," Alya whispered, sounding almost horrified.

"Konnichiwa," Kasai Neko greeted soberly. She gave Marinette a long, considering look, and then waved her hand, covered in the telltale magenta hue of Curse, and uttered the English word, "Sleep."

The 'spell' had absolutely no effect even though Marinette knew Kasai could've easily knocked her out if she wanted to with magic. But she understood what Kasai was doing and played along, slumping to the ground like a ragdoll. Kasai caught her before she could hit the ground and swept her into her arms, setting her gently down on the lawn chair.

"What did you do?!" Alya demanded without a trace of fear in her voice.

"I made her sleep. Or would you rather I have left her awake and let her join you in the dangerous waters you now tread?"

Alya exhaled sharply. "What do you want?"

"I want to protect my people," Kasai Neko replied plainly and Marinette heard her turn around.

"Look, I'm not a threat to—"

"Yes, you are, whether you acknowledge it or not. The only reason we have not killed you is because Ladybug and Chat Noir have pleaded endlessly for your life. They are risking much on your behalf and one wrong word or move from you will ruin their efforts, and quite possibly their lives."

Alya did not respond.

"I am here to make sure that doesn't happen." Kasai declared. "You know what I'm capable of. I advise you not resist."

Marinette heard Alya retreat and the clatter of metal as she hit the railing. "Wh-what are you going to do?"

"I am going to be merciful and only cast a spell."

Eiko and Jacob had discussed at length what manner of Curse to place upon Alya, with Marinette there to veto anything she deemed too extreme. Which was…pretty much everything they had come up with, including spells which would potentially result in her death or excruciating pain, both of which, the elder Guardians argued, would be excellent motivators. In the end, Marinette herself had prompted their decision with a memory of the Curse she'd witnessed Lisitsa place on Lila Rossi. She had not robbed her of the ability to lie but had made it so any lies that Lila told would affect her physically, to the point where she would suffer from too many, and only speaking the truth would ease the discomfort.

Spells, as Marinette learned, were flexible. There were many ways to cast them, developed and practiced by humankind for millennia. Pre-determined incantations for common spells existed, certainly, though they varied across the board depending on which order or faction the practitioners stemmed from. These concise and practiced spells allowed for efficient execution of the casters intentions. However, Sorcerers of enough skill and power could weave unique spells on the fly. The Curse Lisitsa had cast had been one such spell.

The only drawback was that, for a spell of such complexity as that Curse to fully work, the victim had to comprehend what was being said. Lisitsa had uttered hers in Italian so Lila had understood every word. Eiko did not speak French, nor was it likely she would be able to adequately cast the spell if Marinette gave her the right words to say since she herself did not have full comprehension of what she was commanding. Magic was funny like that.

Luckily for them, Alya knew enough English that if they didn't use archaic or overly complex words, she would understand. Though Eiko was fluent, she lacked the eloquence that she would have preferred to use for a spell of such caliber. With their intentions in mind, Jacob had worded the spell and Eiko had practiced it to perfection.

And Marinette had hovered somewhere between nauseated and empty all the while.

"G-get away from me!" Alya stammered, voice high with fear. "Don't touch me!"

Marinette tensed and fought the urge to rush to her friend's aid. It had to be done…it had to be done…it….

"Our secrets come with a price, one that all without the right to them have paid. The price you will pay is less steep and you owe Ladybug and Chat Noir for that kindness." Kasai paused and then intoned, "Speak of our secrets and you will speak no more. Though your body will remain unharmed, your voice will never again take form. Your words will die ere they reach your lips and even the mightiest of your cries will never escape."

Marinette risked peeking one eye open just in time to see Kasai Neko release Alya's arm. The magenta glow of Curse faded from them and the Guardian took a step back. Alya, pale and shaken, did not even notice Marinette watching her.

"Do you understand?" Kasai Neko asked in French. Alya nodded after a moment, tears welling in her eyes. "Good," Kasai said and then switched to English. "I will be clear: this is insurance for us and nothing more. Ladybug did not believe it necessary and she exercised every bit of her power and influence to get us to agree to such a light consequence should you invoke the Curse."

"Y-you call that light?!" Alya shrieked and glared at the elder Guardian. Marinette snapped her eye shut.

"You are fortunate that Ladybug cares for your safety. Were it up to me, the Curse would have killed you as punishment."

Alya was quiet for a long minute but Marinette didn't dare peek again, just in case. "You're no hero," she finally growled. "I don't know what you are…but it's _not_ a hero."

"No, I am not," Kasai agreed. "I am a protector of human kind but I am certainly no hero. Be happy that Ladybug and Chat Noir endeavor to remain so. …Return home. Your friend will sleep for a time and wake with muddled memories. She will not even know you came."

* * *

The worst part about it all was that Marinette couldn't even ask Alya if she was alright.

* * *

At least her Curse would protect her from le Papillon, they had Tikki and Plagg's utter assurances of that. The akumatizations themselves were in part an act of Curse, and why an act of Blessing was necessary to undo the effects.

"You cannot Curse what is already Cursed," Plagg explained. "Everything has limits. If anything, that girl is safer than she ever was."

* * *

The next akuma attack came that Tuesday. The victim was swiftly trounced and its damage undone.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Sombra all kept their eyes out for Alya. The blogger did not come.

* * *

"Forgive me for intruding," Firefly apologized, landing beside Ladybug and Chat Noir before they could start what was supposed to be their patrol together. "I need to speak with you both."

Ladybug hesitated. Chat Noir narrowed his eyes and his tail lashed angrily. "Fine."

Firefly accepted his response with a nod and extinguished his wings, enshrouding the area in relative darkness once more. "Rather, I need to apologize. I was needlessly harsh the other day and you didn't deserve that, especially from me."

Chat Noir stilled, ears lifting, but he said nothing and neither did Ladybug, waiting.

"I can't forget how young either of you are. I don't even try. But I forget what it's like to be as young as you…as Aline can undoubtedly testify. I am not referring to what it's like to be a child because I am certain that even if I did, my youth was so vastly different from yours that it would be absolutely no help. Rather, I forget what it's like to be part of something. My time has passed and all which tied me to the world, to my home, has been gone so long that naught but dust remains. I don't remember what it's like to care for someone who isn't a Guardian. I can barely even empathize with you." Firefly gave Ladybug a mournful look.

"You were an ass," Chat Noir told him bluntly.

"I know and I'm sorry. I truly am. It shouldn't have been so hard on you. She is dear to you both and I cannot claim to have ever been in your shoes. I've killed to protect our secrets before but those people were nothing to me." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I hope you will forgive me. It doesn't have to be now and I wouldn't blame you for not forgiving me right away, but one day."

They considered him but neither of them replied. He gave them a few moments but when he received no response, he nodded to himself and wings of light flared out from his back. "I'll leave you to it. I just want you to know that circumstances have not changed my opinion on the situation with your father. If anything, this business with Alya may serve to help him further if we can prove that a spell with adequate consequences can be used as an alternative to death."

With that, he flew away, leaving the young Guardians alone. They watched him go until the light from his wings faded from sight and then, finally, Chat Noir sighed.

"At least he apologized," Ladybug murmured.

"Yeah. We all messed up, though, Bug."

"Yeah."

* * *

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	64. Soixante Quatre

**Sorry for the wait. Btw someone actually commissioned me to write the scene between Alya and Kasai from Alya's POV. You can find it on my tumblr. So uh...yeah. Willing to write stuff for money.**

* * *

The Deer and the Peacock's arrival was the highlight of a spectacularly boring Wednesday.

There had been no attacks since the previous Tuesday, a blissful respite on one front in their lives, leaving the youngest Guardians more time to focus on their studies. And in the case of Marinette and Adrien, their poor friend. Alya had been subdued since Kasai had cast her Curse and all of them had noticed it. She had to fend off questions from Nino, Adrien, and Marinette separately and together as they grew ever more concerned. When Nino asked Marinette if she knew what was wrong, she said no and that apart from agreeing to come over on Sunday and then not actually showing up, they hadn't really spoken.

A lie, of course, she knew full well what was wrong and how to help, but it was impossible and telling Nino anything close to the truth would only serve to endanger him as well. One of their friends on the chopping block was more than enough.

Alya hadn't really spoken much at all since the Curse was cast. It was as if she feared her own voice. Marinette couldn't blame her. It had been cruel but the emphasis placed on her voice being the danger had been necessary, the setting the loophole which would either damn or save her.

When the four of them went to lunch on Wednesday, Alya was there in body only, her mind lightyears away as she scrolled through her phone and picked at her food while the others attempted to converse despite the strain around them. Then she'd gasped aloud and held up her phone to show them a news report she'd just received. According to it, two people dressed as a peacock and a deer were currently lounging on top of Hotel de Ville, ignoring the city official's requests to leave.

"OH MY GOD IT'S THEM!" she screeched as she jumped to her feet, nearly knocking her chair over in the process, then she ran out of the café with Nino right on her heels. Adrien left a few euros on the table to cover the bill then took off after them while Marinette dialed Jacob's number to warn him and Eiko to stay away.

Ladybug and Chat Noir arrived on scene a few minutes later, much to the relief of the police and mayor below who were beyond exasperated. Nothing had managed to persuade the costumed loiterers to move along, not even threats of arrest, and the one person who'd tried approaching them on the rooftop had found himself knocked back into the stairwell and the door slammed in his face by an intense gust of wind.

The Guardians rose to their feet when the Parisian heroes arrived. The Peacock dropped into a polite bow while the Deer dipped her head.

The Peacock was a stout man with brown skin and curly black hair, wearing a brilliant blue suit that faded into light green at the arms and dark blue at his thighs. Around his waist was a belt that matched his legs, with a peacock brooch pinned prominently in the center. A single fan was clipped to each side of his belt. Hanging from the back of his waist was a train which resembled peacock feathers. Actual feathers hung from a hairpiece on his head and the pointed nose of his mask faded from blue to a pale yellow at the tip.

The Deer, on the other hand, was a petite woman with black hair twisted into an elaborate plaited updo that still managed to conceal her human ears. Two brown ears poked out from the top of her hair. Her suit was a dress, deep cream in color, with a lighter area down the front like the belly of a deer. The skirt fell to mid-thigh and from there her legs were covered by long, light brown boots. Along her bust was a stylistic fringe—Native American, Ladybug would say—which was the same color as the belt around her waist. Unlike every other Guardian thus far, part of her arms and her hands were visible, though a large majority of her forearms were covered by long bracers that matched her boots. Around her neck was a beaded necklace with an antler-shaped pendant hanging from the center

His suit was sleek and shiny, more like spandex or leather, while hers gave the appearance of being soft and smooth, like an animal hide.

"Greetings, Ladybug, Chat Noir," the Peacock said in an accent neither of them had ever heard before. "I am Taawuus."

"Elohi," the Deer greeted with an equally unfamiliar accent. "We saw on the news that there was a bit of a party happening. Hope you don't mind if we join."

Chat Noir grinned. "The more the merrier! Welcome!"

"And thank you for coming," Ladybug added. "We have a lot to fill you in on. Would you mind following us back to a safe place?"

"Before they get even more ticked off," Chat added, pointing over his shoulder to the crowd below with his thumb.

"Of course," Taawuus said. "Lead the way."

* * *

Sombra practically swooned at the sight of Elohi. "Ooooh, you look so pretty!" she said almost dreamily. "I love everything about your look!"

Elohi smiled and bent forward so she was eye to eye with the young Guardian. "Thank you. Who are you?"

"I'm Sombra but you can call me Aline."

"Aline. Nice to meet you. I'm Adsila."

"Ad…Adsila," Sombra repeated slowly, tongue fumbling over the strange name. "Adsila. That's…um…"

Elohi laughed gently. "It's Cherokee. And Aline?"

"Portuguese."

"Ah, I don't know Portuguese."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm getting used to that. Do you know English?"

"Actually, not very well yet."

"Dude, same."

"Hmm, that might present a problem," Firefly commented. "So far, Eiko—Kasai Neko, I mean—and myself have relied on English to communicate with the staff where we're staying. What about you, Taawuus?"

The Peacock, who was quickly proving himself to be the quieter of the two, bobbed his head from side to side. "I know some English. Enough, I think. For now, we can just talk like this."

"For now," Firefly agreed. "We'll deal with language barriers when we come to them. In the meantime, we should probably get you caught up to speed—"

He paused, cocking his head to the side. At the same time, Sombra jumped lightly, Chat Noir's ears twitched, Kasai sighed, and Ladybug made a face.

"Actually…" Ladybug interrupted. "That's going to have to wait. The kwami need to speak first."

The five Guardians dropped their transformations in quick succession. Taawuus and Elohi regarded them apprehensively for a moment then dropped their own as well in flurries of pale blue and topaz light respectively. A deer and a peacock kwami flew out into the open and were met in the air by the others. What followed was the largest and longest kwami group hug in over two thousand years…and the cutest thing any of the humans below had seen in weeks.

"Aaaawww," Aline crooned.

The peacock kwami suddenly burst into tears and wailed something in a language no one in the room understood. Tikki patted her head and chirped a few soothing words.

"Is she alright?" Adrien asked.

"She's fine," Nohxx reassured him.

"Duusu just has a lot of feelings," Tikki added.

Plagg snorted. "More like she never learned how to cope."

"Yeeaaah, Plagg, I'm not sure you have the right to comment on how anyone handles their emotions," Adrien said with a pointed glare at his kwami, who scoffed.

* * *

Adsila had a new shadow in the form of Aline, who might as well have swapped Miraculous with her from the way she was fawning over the elder Guardian. She seemed particularly enraptured by Adsila's long black hair, which fell to her hips in a shiny curtain. Adsila didn't mind when Aline started playing with it, either. Taawuus, who'd introduced himself as Samir, sat beside his partner, occasionally saying something to her in Arabic, which usually prompted a smile.

Marinette and Adrien stood apart from the others. While they were glad for the new arrivals, recent events had them nervous. Alya's behavior earlier indicated she was not completely turned off from her excitement about the heroes and now they had to worry about whether or not she'd be inspired to continue keeping notes on them. After all, her Curse did not prevent such things. Her mere existence might rub Samir and Adsila the wrong way. It was too early to tell…although Adsila's handling of Aline did give them hope. Then, of course, there was the matter of Gabriel. He'd have to be introduced again.

He'd already sent Adrien a text indicating he was awaiting instructions for arrangements.

"Tell him somewhere they can speak Arabic," Marinette suggested. "Plus, the usual stuff."

Adrien nodded and began typing his reply.

"Adrien…"

"Hmm?"

"…This is happening."

He paused, glanced at her, then followed her gaze around the room. They were seven now. Only five left. Soon, this would all be over.

And it was scary.

* * *

After the kwami returned, with Zarra, the Deer, guiding his partner who wept uncontrollably at the news she'd received, the seven Guardians transformed back to speak. Upon transforming, Taawuus's eyes welled up and he sighed in annoyance, raising his hand to wipe his eyes.

"Sorry, this happens sometimes," he explained.

Kasai Neko shook her head. "Take your time."

Once he'd managed to control the emotional residue from his kwami, Ladybug and Chat Noir launched into their tale once more. Taawuus and Elohi listened intently with expressions that grew stonier the longer the Parisian duo went on.

"I cannot believe we never realized," Elohi growled through her clenched teeth. "Now that I think back, I am almost certain I remember hearing reports of a battle between 'demons' or something near Cairo."

"About thirty years ago," Taawuus agreed. "We were busy at the time and couldn't really spare the attention but—"

"What if it was them?" she finished and stomped her foot. "I'm sorry, please continue."

By the time Ladybug and Chat Noir had finished their tale, with some contributions from the other three, they had Elohi and Taawuus's full support, as predicted. More than their support, in fact. They had their anger and their eagerness. Twenty years of inactivity had left them itching for a good fight.

* * *

Which Papillon was more than willing to provide.

* * *

With the arrival of two more fighters, Team Miraculous was practically OP. Exclusive natural 20s OP. _Justice League_ OP. They never had to show up to a fight together and when they did it was pure overkill.

Marinette never thought she'd see the day when she could just _ignore_ an akuma attack but the time had finally come. The four fully grown Guardians were more than capable of taking down an akuma on their own. Taawuus's air abilities and Elohi's earth worked to contain Kasai's fire flinging. Taawuus and Firefly could both fly, Kasai and Elohi were both agile enough to dance around their enemies, and all four were capable of ranged and close combat. To top it off, Elohi could easily perform the purification spell necessary to cleanse an akuma. After just a few weeks, the four of them had adapted into a decent fighting team, which left plenty of time for the younger three Guardians to focus on their studies.

Jacob may or may not have threatened them with intense physical training if he caught any of them shirking their schoolwork, too. Gabriel approved.

Honestly, the only reason Marinette had to transform during school hours anymore was to cast her restorative spell, which she knew when to do when she got a text from Firefly or Kasai. The sheer amount of Guardian power and magic being flung around the attacks was the more than enough for her own spell to lock onto.

When a news reporter asked Firefly to explain Chat Noir and Ladybug's string of absences, the elder Guardian responded: "They've been running themselves to the bone for years trying to protect this city. I think they're entitled to a few weeks' vacation."

* * *

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**

 **Here is that good old reference chart, now updated!**

 **Creation: Ladybug (Marinette) | Destruction: Chat Noir (Adrien)**  
 **Order: Papillon (?) | Chaos: N/A (Deceased)**  
 **Honesty: N/A (Deceased) | Dishonesty: Lisitsa (Olesya)**  
 **Light: Firefly (Jacob) | Darkness: Sombra (Aline)**  
 **Possibilities: ? (?) | Memories: ? (?)**  
 **Water: N/A (Deceased) | Fire: Kasai Neko (Eiko)**  
 **Earth: Elohi (Adsila) | Air: Taawuus (Samir)**  
 **Life: ? (?) | Death: ? (?)**


	65. Soixante Cinq

***sees how long it's been***

 **Oops.**

* * *

Standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower never ceased to give Chat Noir a rush of adrenaline and emotion. He could see the whole city from up here and it had always made him feel powerful, especially with Ladybug by his side. With the others, though, it was more. There was the sense of unity, the knowledge that he was a part of something much bigger and stronger than himself. To be honest, he felt kind of like a badass and he wasn't even doing anything but standing around.

He glanced at his companions. Firefly, Taawuus and Elohi, and Kasai Neko, as well as Sombra and, of course, his Lady, both of whom were somewhere out of sight above them. Each of them Guardians in their own right. They would follow him into battle without hesitation if he asked them, just as he would leap into the fray with claws outstretched if one of them gave the word. His expression hardened as he looked back over the city. Paris was vast and old, older in some respects than everyone on this rooftop, but if they wanted to, the seven of them could utterly decimate it.

 _What a strange thing to consider_ , he thought, but it was true. They were _demigods._ No one had ever brought it up but that's basically what Guardians were, as far as Adrien was concerned. If they wanted to, they could bring the world to its knees. _If_ they wanted to. But they weren't like that…which was why the kwami had chosen them. And that was something else no one ever brought up: the kwami placed an insane amount of trust in them all by giving them these powers. Papillon was living proof of what could happen if one of them went bad.

The tips of his fingers tingled and Chat Noir curled and uncurled his hands. That was the second time in two days they'd done that. He looked down at his hands thoughtfully. Was he manifesting a new power finally? Ladybug had said she'd felt stirrings of something during the days leading up to the appearance of her wings. He wondered what was coming.

Or if it was just a coincidence.

He sighed and let his hands drop. A new power would be pretty neat. He hadn't gotten _anything_ since his destruction sense and compared to Ladybug's wings and shields, his power was a bit of a letdown. Besides, his sixth sense was pretty useless these days since there were five other Guardians around to take care of things for them. He barely saw any action though there was plenty of it.

"Y'know…" Chat Noir said slowly. "I'm kind of surprise Papillon hasn't chilled out a bit."

"What do you mean?" Taawuus asked, his voice echoing as it reached Adrien through both his ears and the Bluetooth.

Chat Noir shrugged. "He's after me and Ladybug, right? I don't know, I just figured that maybe he would've backed off now that we're off the scene. But he hasn't. The akumas just keep coming. …It's like he's a cornered animal or something, attacking the only way he can."

"He is exactly that," Kasai Neko agreed soberly. "He has to know time is running out for him. And since he hasn't run yet, that makes me think he can't. Some part of himself won't let him leave and let you live."

"He's built his own cage," Taawuus added with a nod.

"And like a cornered animal, he won't go quietly." Firefly warned them. "He's going to go out in a blaze of glory and I have no doubt he'll try to take as many of us as possible with him. Which is even more reason for the three of you to stay back." He looked at the three youngest Guardians. "I know we all share the same duty, blah blah blah, and I know he's technically _your_ problem, but you're still just kids. If worst comes to worst…at least all of us have lived good, long lives."

Taawuus and Kasai nodded in agreement. Elohi only frowned.

" _But…what about me?"_ a tiny voice asked through the Bluetooth and they all looked overhead to the small shadow perched above them on one of the highest parts of the tower. _"What will I do if he kills you?"_

Chat Noir looked at Firefly, whose eyes crinkled behind his mask. "Hopefully it won't come to that," the elder Guardian said. "For all our sakes."

* * *

But his words continued to haunt her.

Marinette didn't know what Aline's life had been like before she was chosen by Nohxx but she did know that she'd been in the foster system, meaning that for one reason or another, Aline had lost both of her parents. With no one missing her back in Brazil, she must have been entirely alone. The thought of losing Adrien already petrified Marinette…she couldn't imagine how she'd feel if he was the only one she had. Though, she supposed that she would, one day, far in the future.

But Aline was still very young. Young, scared, and unsure how to explain herself to Jacob in a way that he could understand without trying to uselessly reassure her. Neither Adrien nor Marinette knew how to help, either, beyond hugs and gentle reminders that she'd always have them if she needed them. It wouldn't be the same and it wasn't enough.

* * *

"I hate him," Sombra hissed on Marinette's floor one afternoon after their respective schooling was done for the day. The three of them were transformed, the only way they could all hang out together and perfectly understand each other. "He's messed everything up. What gives him the right to go batshit crazy and try to kill us all?"

It took Ladybug until near the end of her statement to realize she was talking about Papillon. She sighed and set down her stylus. Chat Noir looked up from his textbook.

Sombra was wrapped up in her wings with her knees resting on her chest, scowling at nothing in particular. "It's so…it's bullshit! If Jacob dies, _I'm_ gonna go crazy."

"Ally," Ladybug sighed. "You have to stop thinking about it or it's going to drive you nuts."

"She's right, you're starting to worry us," Chat added. He slid off the chaise and sat down beside her. "And I know it's keeping you up at night. Just because I can't see them right now doesn't change the fact that I know there are dark circles under your eyes."

Sombra frowned looked away.

"Ally," Ladybug sighed again. "Come on. Think about it. There are seven of us and one of him. You've seen how easy battles are now—they're hardly even battles. He's going to have to do something catastrophic, bigger than anything he's ever done, to even have a chance at taking us out."

"But you heard Jacob. He's going to go out in a…a blaze of glory. A big and catastrophic blaze of glory. It could still happen! I don't want him to d-die."

"Everyone dies, Aline," Chat said softly.

"You think I don't know that?!" she spat with more venom than they'd ever heard from the usually cheerful child. "You think I haven't been told like a dozen times that I'm dying before him or he's dying before me? I know it's going to happen. He told me on the _first day_!" She scrambled to her feet and towards the ladder to Marinette's bed.

"Aline!"

"Ally, wait!"

Sombra was up the ladder and out the trapdoor before either of them could reach her. Ladybug unfurled her wings and flew after her.

* * *

Chat Noir stopped on the balcony, hands gripping the railing, and watched them go. He considered going after them, hand reaching for his baton to do just that, but then he stopped. He'd never catch up with them even at his top speed. He banged his fist against the rail and sighed. He might as well stay behind and come up with a good excuse for Madame Cheng when she eventually came up to check on them.

If he'd only looked down to the street below, he would've seen Alya staring straight up at Marinette's balcony with wide, thunderstruck eyes.

* * *

Sombra wasn't built for long-distance flight. She was better at gliding and soaring, stopping briefly, and going again. Still, she could book it when she wanted and when she was older she'd be able to pace a speeding vehicle, but for now she could only go so fast, and she had absolutely nothing on Ladybug.

If Ladybug wanted to catch her, they wouldn't have even made it a block from the house, but she didn't. She hung back, keeping a steady distance between them, just enough so Sombra wouldn't feel pressured any more than necessary. She wasn't going to force her into a conversation she clearly wasn't ready to handle, but she wasn't going to let this fester. So, she waited patiently, flying behind the younger Guardian across the city. Sombra never once looked over her shoulder but Ladybug knew that she knew she was being followed.

Sombra finally chose to alight on the steeple of an old church. She slipped inside the belfry as Ladybug touched down and, with a sigh, followed.

Sombra sat against the wall, dwarfed by the single bell hanging above her. Faded and rusty, Ladybug was sure it hadn't rung in years, and likely never would again. A remnant of a time long past, preserved for posterity and tradition. And beneath it, a young girl, chosen for a responsibility she couldn't understand, given powers and duties greater than her wildest dreams. Or nightmares. The newest bearer of an ancient mantle, kept alive and going by necessity, existing only due to the follies of gods eons ago.

She was so tiny.

"I'm grateful, y'know," Sombra mumbled. Ladybug slowly walked towards her as she spoke. "Jacob is the best thing that ever happened to me. I would've never met him if Nohxx hadn't chosen me. I'd still be out there, still…" she trailed off, staring out the archway into space. She swallowed, licked her lips, and sighed. "I don't want to lose him. I know I'll have to eventually, one way another, but…."

"Adrien is the best thing that ever happened to me, too," Ladybug confessed. "I would've met him without being Ladybug, but I don't know if I would've ever had the courage to—to ever move past being a ridiculous mess with a ridiculous crush. He may have only ever been my friend, and even that in name only. Now I love him, and he loves me, and we don't talk about it but we're both utterly terrified of losing each other. Before you all showed up, we risked losing every time we went out to fight. I…there was a time I nearly _did_ lose him. Without my powers, he would've died, and it would've been _my fault_ …" she shuddered. "I still have nightmares about it sometimes."

Sombra frowned at her.

"And you know what? Now it's worse. Because when he's really afraid, I feel it. I can't describe it but it's…terrifying. It doesn't happen often but, God, I swear, from the moment I feel it until the moment I see him safe, it's…beyond awful. The first time it happened, we didn't know what was going on, and it took days for Chat Noir to calm down. And we both know that one day, we might feel the other's fear…and then the snap."

"The snap?" Sombra asked quietly.

"That's what the kwami said it was like. You don't have it yet but once you're older, you'll be able to feel your link to Jacob. It's always there, ignorable, but you'll always know he's alive and safe and even if he's close or not. The snap happens when they die and the link is destroyed." Ladybug licked her lips. "Jacob's felt it. Samir or Adsila have felt it."

"Papillon felt it."

"Yeah. We're all terrified of it."

Sombra shook her head slowly. "How do you…stand it?"

Ladybug shrugged. "I mean…we really don't. We just take things day by day and enjoy being together. I try not to think about it 'cause if I do, I—" a shudder passed through her. "I'm sorry. I wish I could give you some…awesome sage advice but I'm still new at this, too. I'll bet Adsila could help you. She's been dealing with this for decades."

"I…maybe I will," Sombra said softly. "I didn't think about that."

Ladybug nudged her gently. "Don't bottle things up, Ally. It won't help you in the long run. I think you should go talk to her."

"Okay. I will. I—I'm sorry for snapping at you." She looked up at her meekly. "I know you were just trying to help. I just…."

"I know," Ladybug assured her and Sombra exhaled. "I know."

* * *

Marinette's room had always been her safe place. Somewhere she could transform without fear. A place where Tikki could be free most of the time. A place where she and Adrien could be alone.

So, of course she didn't stop to think that, maybe, this time would be different.

She flew straight down through her trap door and landed on her bed, letting her transformation fall away. She crawled towards the edge of her bed, missing Tikki's quiet gasp over the creak of her mattress. She could see Adrien's head over the edge, right where she'd left him on the chaise.

"Sorry I took so long. She's okay, though, we—"

Adrien was sitting on the chaise but he wasn't alone in the room. At Marinette's desk, with a look that was somewhere between shock and righteous anger…was Alya.

She'd seen.

* * *

 **also hey guys I'm moving to France in less than three weeks hell yeah  
**

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


	66. Soixante Six

**Someone asked me how much they'd have to pay me to get me to update again soon. I said $50. As expected, that person did not follow through.**

 **...yeah well then today someone actually DID.**

 ** **Now, I am obviously not above taking bribes/updating on commission (nor am I above being commissioned to write things related to this fic),** however let me just say this right now: I'm moving in like...9 days. I have a _lot_ I need to focus on right now and this story is not one of those things. S** ** **o do not ask me to update and do not pester me about updates in the near future, even if you are willing to pay. I am moving across the world to a country where the language is not mine, gonna be dealing with culture shock, language barriers, and the responsibilities of my job. Don't add to my stress.  
****

* * *

Marinette's eyes flicked to Adrien, the look of guilt on his face and the way he hunched over miserably. To Plagg, floating out in the open with an eerily emotionless stare. To Alya, staring right at her.

She'd seen _everything._

"So." Alya said with an edge to her voice that Marinette had never heard before. "This explains a lot."

Marinette bit her lip.

"And I do mean a _lot_."

Tikki laid a supportive paw on Marinette's shoulder. The touch spurred Marinette into motion. Swallowing once, she climbed down from her bed and joined Adrien on the chaise. Alya waited, watching her with cold, narrow eyes.

"I'm sorry," Adrien whispered. "She cornered me and wouldn't let me call you…"

Marinette shook her head. "It's not your fault, minou."

"I can't believe this." Alya blurted out and they both looked at her incredulously. "I absolutely, cannot _fucking believe_ this. Or you two! Seriously? SERIOUSLY? This whole time? It's been you this whole time?"

They nodded.

"All those interviews. Volpina. The studio. All of it. You?"

They nodded again.

"Unbelievable." Alya shook her head. "What, was it all just a game to you? Messing with me?"

"Hey!" Marinette snapped. "I get you're upset and I get you're pissed but I've told you before: _this is not a game for us_. It's never been a game! We came to you because we trusted you. We gave you those interviews and exclusives because you're our friend and we wanted to help."

"You think we'd intentionally screw with you like that?" Adrien added angrily. "You know us better! Or you should!"

"Well clearly I know absolutely jack about either of you!" Alya shot back. "Oh, and yeah, what the hell you guys? You've let me sit here for months and talk about my research then you just up and _take_ it from me?! Y-you let them put evil magic on me?!"

"They had to." Tikki interrupted. Alya's head whipped towards the kwami who smiled kindly, despite the tension in the room. "Hello Alya. It's…well, I am glad for the chance to finally speak with you."

The aggression faded, genuine curiosity replacing it. "Who are you?" Alya asked.

"I am Tikki, the kwami of Creation. Marinette is my Guardian, and, in exchange, I give her the power of Ladybug to carry out her responsibilities."

Alya's eyes widened and then slid to Plagg. The dark kwami's blank expression did not waver. "Plagg. Kwami of Destruction," he said stiffly.

"Plagg?" Tikki murmured.

Plagg glanced at her then returned his stare to Alya. "I'm restraining myself."

Adrien cleared his throat. "She might have threatened me," he muttered to Marinette, who stiffened.

"Threatened you _how_?" she demanded.

"She threatened to tell everyone online if I didn't sit here and wait for you to come back."

Marinette rounded on Alya furiously but her friend(?) held her hands up. "I wasn't actually going to, okay? I actually have some self-preservation instincts."

Plagg hissed at her and Marinette rose to her feet, but Adrien grabbed her arm. "No. I knew she wasn't going to, either. I only played along to keep her here."

"Ex _cuse me_?" Alya squawked.

The Guardians ignored her and Adrien stared at Marinette intently. Cold swept through Marinette in a wave and she sank back down onto the chase. "No," she muttered, shaking her head "I can't. We _can't_." Her voice broke and tears began welling in her eyes as one of her worst nightmares unfolded around her.

"What?" Alya asked.

Marinette shook her head and a sob ripped its way from her chest. She felt Adrien put his arms around her and she shuddered. This couldn't be happening.

"Alya, we…" Adrien trailed off, at a loss. Fortunately, Tikki stepped in.

"Our Guardians are bound to the rules we give them," she explained. "They have their duties, they have their priorities, and that is that. But in order to protect themselves, the Guardians of old decided to add another rule to their list, one which they would enforce, and all their successors would be bound to."

Marinette glanced up at Alya.

"And that is that no outsiders may know their identities…and live."

Alya stared at Tikki for a long, silent minute. Then she looked at Adrien. "You kept me here to kill me," she stated flatly.

Adrien looked away. "I had to," he said quietly. "If the others found out I let you go…."

Alya abruptly stood but only managed to take a single step towards the door before both kwami swooped in to halt her advance. "Get out of the way!" she snapped. "I am so done with this shit!"

"If you try to leave, you will be killed," Plagg warned her.

"And if I stay I'll be killed, too, apparently!"

"No!" Marinette pushed herself to her feet. "No, no, Tikki, Plagg, please, her Curse should cover this, too, right?"

"It would," Tikki confirmed with a nod.

Plagg scoffed. "After the stunt she pulled?"

The kwami of Creation gave him a tempering look but Plagg refused to budge for a long minute. Then he abruptly let out a loud sigh and folded his arms, turning away. Tikki nodded and addressed the humans once more. "Yes. Her Curse applies to all of our secrets she has knowledge of, your identities included. However, given the loophole, the others may see fit to apply another layer of protection in the interim."

"You mean the fact that I can still write about your secrets all I want?" Alya said shrewdly. "Yeah, I wondered why they left out something so obvious."

Tikki looked at Marinette who pursed her lips, realizing the kwami intended for her to explain. "It was my idea. A chance for you to prove yourself without realizing you were doing it."

Alya's eyebrows shot towards her hairline and she folded her arms. "What?"

"I…was… hoping maybe…we could use you as an example of why things can change." Marinette glanced at Adrien briefly. "Guardians have been living by the same rules for thousands of years and we, Adrien and me, I mean, we know things have to change. And the others are starting to realize it, too. I wanted to prove that even people like you could be saved."

"People like me?"

"What she means," Adrien interrupted, "is people who uncover our secrets. The rule is that we're supposed to…y'know…kill you for it. But we're trying to prove that other methods are possible."

"Which is why a Curse was placed on you," Marinette added, "but I thought that, by leaving a loophole, you could prove that you were worth the risk. You didn't mean any harm, you were just curious." She folded her arms and shook her head. "You shouldn't have to _die_ for that."

"And many of us kwami agree. You are a wonderful girl, Alya." Tikki floated up to Alya's eye level. "Talented, smart, strong, and uniquely gifted. The kind of person who can change the world just by being alive. The world is better to have you in it and to cut your life short would be such a waste of passion and potential."

Alya ducked her head. "Thanks…I think."

"Were it up to me, I think you would make an asset to our cause."

 _ **No,**_ Marinette thought angrily. She didn't want Alya anywhere near their world and if Tikki started putting ideas into her head—

"So, what happens now? I just…pretend like I never saw anything?" Alya asked.

Tikki shook her head. "No. Adrien and Marinette must tell the other Guardians what's happened as soon as possible. They may choose to close the loophole in your curse…or…"

"Kill me."

"I will strongly advise against it," Tikki vowed, giving her an encouraging smile. "And my word counts for a lot."

Alya swallowed thickly. "This…I just…" Shaking her head, she staggered back and flopped down onto the desk chair. She buried her face in her hands.

Tikki sighed, antenna drooping, and turned to face Marinette and Adrien. "Would the three of you like a few minutes?"

Marinette nodded.

Tikki and Plagg exchanged a look then flew towards the ceiling, leaving the teenagers alone.

The air rushed out of Marinette's chest a heavy sigh and she sank back onto the chaise next to Adrien. He kissed her temple and sighed miserably. "Today sucks," he murmured.

Alya raised her head. "I-is this really my life right now?" she asked. Neither of them answered her and Alya shook her head. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch, I just…oh God. This is too much. I can't."

"No, we're sorry," Adrien said.

The three of them sat in silence for several long moments, processing. Adrien rubbed Marinette's arm and sighed again.

"Wait," Alya said suddenly. "Why was Sombra here?"

"We were hanging out." Marinette smiled. "Doing homework and stuff. We're her only friends, really."

Alya shook her head slowly. "How…old is she?"

"Thirteen."

"Thirteen?! But…" She froze, mouth still open to speak, and her eyes bugged out again. Marinette could just see the pieces sliding into place in her mind "That girl," she whispered. "The one I saw you with."

"When was this?" Adrien asked.

"A couple weeks ago. You were getting ice cream. Little tiny thing, brown hair? That's Sombra?"

Neither Guardian said anything but she took their silence as confirmation.

"But she's so…she's a _baby_."

"We were both fourteen," Adrien reminded her. "Most new Guardians start around our age. But she's lucky, she has Jacob to guide her. That's usually how it works—the older trains the younger."

"But not with you two."

"No."

"Why?"

"Papillon killed both of our predecessors," Marinette said simply. "Not long before we were chosen, both of them dead in the same day. Partners like us are really rare."

"But…why is he after you? I mean, I've always wanted to know, and you can tell me now, right?"

The Guardians glanced at each other for a moment and then Adrien shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, okay. He's after us because he was after the last Ladybug and Black Cat. He blamed them for the death of his partner, Libelle, because they were all fighting the same enemy together. Or, I guess, he blamed them for not saving her."

"I think…I read about that. A conflict in Romania in the early 1900s."

"Latvia," Adrien corrected. "She died in Latvia. But the date is right"

"Well, the author never mentioned her dying so he must've just lost track of them after Romania." Alya shook her head. "I don't know. But you were saying?"

"So, after Libelle and her kwami died, Papillon kind of…went insane. He wanted them and their kwami dead." Adrien scowled. "And since Guardians inherit the fights of their predecessors, in his eyes, their guilt passed onto us."

"Harsh," she breathed. "Why did the…kwami, right? Why did they pick you? Why didn't they just hide until he died or something?"

"Because he won't just die and even if he did, they couldn't be without Guardians that long. It's not safe," Marinette explained. "They need us. We protect them and their Miraculous and they give us powers and abilities to do our jobs."

"But why you two specifically? They could've picked anyone, right?"

"No, not really. There's a lot of criteria. We were…the best fit and the best match." Marinette smiled, despite herself. "Hey, guess what, Alya, I was right along. He's totally my soul mate."

Alya stared at her for a few seconds then rolled her eyes. "Girl, I swear."

"Guess what, Alya, I was right all along," Adrien parroted in a tone he reserved for Chat Noir only, flinging his arm around Marinette dramatically. "Ladybug and I are totally made for each other."

"Oh my god." Both girls said at once in very different ways. Adrien laughed.

"Okay, but seriously though. That's really why?" Alya asked and both of them nodded. "That's…pretty cool, actually. What about the others? You can't tell me they're all soulmates."

"They're not," Marinette assured her. "The kwami look for compatibility with the surviving partner. Like with Sombra. The bat kwami knew she would be good for Firefly, and he would be good for her, and that's why he chose her out of the rest."

"If she's thirteen…how old is he?"

"A few decades shy of three hundred," Adrien said matter-of-factly. Alya's eyes bugged. "They're all pretty old. Taawuus is about his age. Elohi's nearly four hundred and Kasai is from the actual _Feudal Era_."

"Like, Japanese Feudal Era?"

"The one and only."

"Holy shit. I never would've even guessed." Alya shook her head. "Are you guys going to get that old?"

"If we're lucky," Marinette said. "Guardians are going longer and longer between their fights. This is the first time some of them have had to do anything in years. Since we don't die and are even harder to kill, most of us die fighting."

"But when there's no fighting…" Adrien trailed off.

"There's almost no chance you'll die," Alya finished and nodded. "Wow. You two could live centuries. You'll get to watch the world change and change. That's so…cool." She leaned forward onto her knees. "I want to help. There has to be _some_ way I can help."

"No," Marinette interjected sharply, shaking her head. "No way."

"Oh, come on! Who am I gonna tell, right?"

"It's not just that. It's…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "The Curse on you is only a temporary solution. There's um…it was just insurance until…well, there's a Guardian who can mess with memories…"

Alya went completely still for a long moment. She didn't even blink.

…Perhaps…Marinette could have worded that better. "I mean—"

"You're gonna let them wipe my mind?"

"No," Adrien said immediately. "We don't know exactly how it's going to happen but…they're going to take your memories of everything related to our secrets. Or at least change them so you don't know the dangerous stuff. …I think."

"You… _think_."

Adrien ducked his head.

"I'm sorry," Marientte whispered. "It was the kwami's idea…it was the only thing anyone could think of. I couldn't just _let_ them kill you. I—I-I know we haven't done right by you. We let things get too far. But you were my best friend when no one else was. You've supported me through some of the craziest parts of my life without even realizing it." She leaned forward. "You've been there for me in ways Chat Noir never could've been. I know you're angry with us, with me, and you have every right to be, and I would understand if you never forgive me…but I do love you, very much, and I don't want your life ruined just because of me. Of us. And the only way for that to happen is if you forget you ever knew any of this."

Alya's eyes were full of tears by the time Marinette was finished. She reached up to wipe at them hastily with the back of her hand and sighed.

"There's something else you should know, too," Adrien murmured. "My father knows. He…you know, now that I think about it, you both probably started out the same: researching the heroes. Only he got a lot, _lot_ farther than you." His expression turned grim. "He found a book detailing…everything about Guardians. I don't even know why it exists since reading it is a death sentence but…it's there, and he found it, and decoded it. He's known I'm Chat Noir for _years._ "

Alya furrowed her brow. "And he's still alive?"

Adrien gave a little half shrug. "I…well, he's trying to prove his value right now. He's been making all the housing arrangements and pretty much anything else the others need. We're trying to convince them that we need someone like him to help us now that the world has changed so much. It's going good so far, but…there's still a chance things might not end well. And he has too many memories. He'll…they'll kill him."

"Shit," Alya breathed

Marinette nodded. "And it's all or nothing. Either the Guardians all agree unanimously to create this new position which he will fill, in which case, he's bound to his duty for life like we are, or he has to die. It…you'll have a better life if you just let the Guardian take your memories. I know all of this seems so cool but it's—"

"It's not." Adrien leaned forward. "Trust us, we know how it seems in the beginning. We fell for it, too, and now we're stuck for life. But you have a chance, an out. Please take it."

Alya took a deep breath…then shook her head. "Okay. I…okay. I don't…I didn't…mean for any of this. But I don't want…" She shook her head again, pulled her glasses off with one hand, and wiped her eyes with the other. "I'll cooperate. I'll let them do whatever. Just…" she pursed her lips, eyes downcast. "After this…stay away from me. At least as Ladybug and Chat Noir. I don't…I don't know how I feel about Adrien and Marinette yet but… I don't want your world near me, my family, or Nino. I know I won't remember this, and I know I'll probably do the exact opposite of what I want right now, so you have to promise me you'll do it for me. Stay away."

Marinette nodded, tears welling in her eyes. They weren't okay. Nothing about this was okay. Everything had just…gone so wrong, so fast, and the rest of the day was going to be absolutely miserable and she was _not_ ready but…but…she could do this. They could do this.

"I promise," Marinette said and Adrien echoed her right after. Marinette sniffed once, wiped her eyes, then pulled her phone from her pocket. Time to call Jacob.

* * *

 **Come check me out on tumblr at wintermoth! If you want to, feel free to tag anything about this fic with "ML Guardians AU"**


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